


Sin and Bones

by TheSinBubble



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bittybones, Angst, Blood, Brass calls one oc Daddy, Brassy is adorable, Comfort, Depression, Fluff, Found Families, Gen, Heats, I'm a slut for fluff i love it so much, Living Together, Multi, POV Female Character, Permanent Injury, SO MUCH FLUFF, also not in a sexy way, but later calls another mommy, they're not together though, will add tags as i write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-09-01 10:47:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8621536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSinBubble/pseuds/TheSinBubble
Summary: One of the things Sin enjoyed about her life was the quiet. With nobody else around, she could do what she wanted whenever she wanted. Nobody to cook, clean or work for but herself, and nobody to bug her about doing those things. Nobody to fight over the tv remote, or for use of the bathroom or washing machine. Going to sleep when she wanted, usually at 3 in the morning or later if she found a particularly good fic. She kind of hated it. In which some lady gets a life foisted upon her by her best friend and learns how to better take care of herself and a skeleton. She thanks him later.





	1. When It Rains

**Author's Note:**

> Introducing, my first Fic on ao3. It's something I've been working on in my head and with an rp friend for a few months now and she convinced me to write it up. If you'd like to see art, check out my Tumblr of the same name. Enjoy~
> 
> Brassberry is from Yanderetale and belongs to Ammazolie.tumblr.com  
> AU at bittybones-au.tumblr.com

 

One of the things Sin enjoyed about her life was the quiet. With nobody else around, she could do what she wanted whenever she wanted. Nobody to cook, clean and work for but herself, and nobody to bug her about doing those things. Nobody to fight over the tv remote, or for use of the bathroom or washing machine. Going to sleep when she wanted, usually at 3 in the morning or later if she found a particularly good fic.

 She kind of hated it.

 Well, she hadn’t hated it in the beginning. In the beginning, she’d been relieved to finally have a place of her own, one that she could afford and keep up on the rent for. Commissions were fairly regular and savings were building unsteadily, plus she’d gotten part time jobs for baby/pet/house-sitting. What spare time she’d gained was spent looking for ways to shop efficiently.

That had been two years ago and since then she’d… stagnated. Her apartment was still sparse, only holding what she really needed, plus the occasional gift. The only things that had really changed were the new laptop and slightly bigger tv, plus a few small games and books, and some nicer clothes. And the dust, dishes and clothes on nearly every available surface.

Ugh.

It was raining heavily at 11am one morning when she sighed for the fifth time that hour, trying to decide on some activity that would kill some restless energy without having to do anything. She’d finally just curled up in her armchair and cracked open a half-read book when there was a timid knock at the front door.

She looked up and blinked, cautiously setting the book down on her side table and getting up. Only one person ever visited her without warning, but he should have been at work…

“Heeeyyyy, Sin! My best friend, my girl, mi amigo, can I talk to you, ask a favour, pull your leg for something?” he babbled, smile tight and shoulders tense as he stared unerringly at her.

Evidently, he was playing hooky.

She frowned and glanced over him. His usual curly hair was curlier and dripping onto the shoulders of his soaked pink button-up shirt while his bundled jacket was held oddly protectively against his chest. Like it was holding something.

“Why are you wet?” she asked instead of answering, raising a brow at the jacket meaningfully.

“Because I walked here in the rain,” his smiled twitched, genuine for a brief moment, “See, it’s this amazing phenomenon where water falls from the sky-”

“Fuck off, Freddo,” she huffed, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the door frame. “I meant why aren’t you wearing it. Give me a _straight_ answer, or _hop off_. Anyway, shouldn't you be at work?” 

He balanced the bundle in one arm and held the other hand against his chest in mock offence, mouth open in a wide ‘O’ with a loud huff, before his expression fell and he told her seriously, “You have to let me in before I tell you.”

The bundle wriggled and coughed as if to further push his point.

Sin’s brows rose as her eyes snapped to it, then up at her friend. A smug smile played about his mouth through his surprise and tenseness, challenging her curiosity. They stood at the door for what seemed a long few minutes until she sighed and walked inside, leaving the door open for him.

“Fine, I’ll make some tea.”

Freddie sighed, shoulders slumping in relief and the warmth as he closed the door after himself.

 

-;-;-

 

Sin stood in front of the second armchair, holding a tray with two mugs and a plate of biscuits and staring at the towel covered creature bemoaning his hair as he dried it. Or rather, at the small shivering skeleton with deep-set eyes, a bandage around its head, and wearing clothes probably bought from the kid's section, sitting tensely in his lap as it looked around the apartment and avoided her gaze.

“Freddie,” Sin said quietly.

“Hm?”

“Um?” He let the towel fall around his shoulders and looked up at her pointing at his lap.

“Oh yeah, do you have any hot chocolate? He loves it,” he motioned to the skeleton, who… blushed? Then it - _he_ \- leaned sideways against him, curling in on himself a little. Freddie must have assumed her vague non-verbal question about where this tiny creature came from was actually asking what he wanted to drink.

“... Uh, yeah. One sec,” she muttered and put the tray down on the side table after casually throwing the book down in her chair. It was only as she was finding a cup that she thought to ask.

“Hey, what size cup?”

“What?” Freddie called loudly.

“Dude, I’m right here,” she grumbled. The kitchenette was only cornered off in the living room with half walls to separate them, it was right beside the front door and she could see them from where she stood. “You don’t have to shout. What size cup?”

He snorted, “Hey, do you have a _Double Damn_ or- wait that doesn’t make sense, hold on..”

“Freddie-” she groaned.

“Ok ok, don’t hurt me! Not a big one. He loves it, but he tends to leave some because he doesn’t have the stomach for it, y'know?”

Her immediate thought was ‘that’s what she said’. She resisted the urge to slap her forehead and pulled down the smallest cup she had instead.

A minute later she walked back in and glanced between them, pursing her lips. “I’ll uh, leave it on the tray for a bit. It’s still hot,” she said, slowly taking her cup and replaced it with with the small one, shoved the book in between the cushion and the arm of the chair, and sat carefully to avoid spillage.

“Thanks Sin, you’re the best,” Freddie grinned up at her cheekily. He’d wrapped the second towel around the skeleton and was carefully drying him and wrapping him up in it. “I didn’t expect it to rain, so uh, sorry for dripping all over your place.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sin hummed, folding her legs under herself and watching them. It was quiet for a few minutes, the rain hitting the outside of the window and the sipping of tea were the only noises, with the occasional squeak or grumble from the skeleton as he tried to keep still. Sometimes he’d huff or shift to get Freddie to stop, only for him to gently pull him back into place. It was cute, in a way, kind of like a small kid and his dad.

“So, uh,” Sin muttered, as Freddie finished up and looked at her. The skeleton still kept his eyes averted. “What’s the story? You skiving?” She raised a brow at him. “For another stray?”

“I’ve got the morning off today,” Freddie tucked the towel more securely, paused and took a sip of his tea while fidgeting and shifting. “The short version is... yes.”

He looked at her over the rim of his cup. “His name is Brassberry, or Brassy for short, and I know what you’re gonna say but I’m gonna help him. You know bittybones are.. _technically_ classified as pets, but they’re sentient and intelligent and nowhere in the rules does it say they’re not allowed in an apartment! This isn’t gonna be like the other times,” he insisted. “I swear-”

“You mean you’re not gonna try and keep him, only to be forced to send him away to a shelter when it turns out, again, you don’t have the time, or space, or _ability_ to look after him-”

“Yes alright, that,” he huffed, “I get it. That’s why I’m… asking for your help, this time.” He actually deflated as he said this, pouting. Sin’s eyes slowly narrowed into slits.

“You have lots of rich friends who could take him, basically pamper him so he won’t want for anything.” She glanced down at the - at Brassberry again to see his eyes dart away as he noticed her looking and buried his face in Freddie’s still wet shirt, only to jerk back with a grimace and wipe his face with the towel. “Why are you asking me?”

Freddie opened his mouth to retort, only to exhale in a loud huff, and closed it for a minute. “Because,” he drawled, coming up with something, “I know even if he gets whatever he wants, they won’t give him as much attention as you will,” he finished hopefully, half pleading and held her eyes.

Sin just frowned at him.

“He’s the kind of bitty that needs a lot of attention, both physical and emotional,” he started again, “And his bandage needs to be cleaned and changed every day, plus there’s his diet too. Nobody else I know would remember to do all those things!” he shrugged, raising his free hand with his fingers spread. “I know you will, because-”

“Because I have nothing else to do?” Sin deadpanned, expression hard.

“No! Well, that helps..” he winced, running a hand through his drying curls and scratching the nape of his neck, “I mean, no, it’s because you already have experience, and you’re compassionate, plus you- well, you kinda need someone to look after. It’ll give you something to do with your days.” He shrugged, looking like he already regret his words.

She said nothing, brows low and eyes dark. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brassberry wriggling his arms out of the towel and going to reach for the tray slowly, probably to avoid catching their attention. She watched him for a moment before leaning over and passing him the now lukewarm cup, only for him to freeze and stare wide-eyed at her. Freddie took it from her instead and she sat back down, watching him nudge the skeleton back into place and brace the cup in his hands.

His… tiny little skeletons hands. With small fingers and cute little joints. Her own hands twitched with the urge to hold them and run her thumb over his little palms...

Brass swallowed and took the cup, still glancing at her, before he leaned back against Freddie again and once again recoiled from his shirt, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“Why haven’t you taken that off yet?” Sin’s face scrunched up and she placed her cup on the tray to stand and walked to a door off to one side, “Hold on, I think I have a couple shirts you’ve left here before.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, you’re a slob.”

“You’re one to talk,” he laughed, and she knew even without seeing him that he was looking around at the apartment.

“‘Least I don’t leave my clothes about _outside_ my living area.”

“I don’t do that! Only at your place, because I love you soooo muuucch,”

“Do you tell your mother that too? Has she stopped trying to set you up with people by the way?”

“Aww, no fair bringing her into this…” He made a face, and Sin snorted as she came back with a clean shirt. “Heyyy, you washed it!”

“Nah, just folded it. It was already clean when you left it here.”

“Ah,” Freddie shrugged the wet one off after adjusting Brassberry comfortably in his lap so he wouldn’t fall, towelled himself off properly and pulled the new one on without another thought. Brass raised his brows, somehow, and looked between them as Sin sat back down. Neither said anything about it, so he seemed to keep whatever thoughts he had to himself.

“Let’s say I did take him,” Sin leaned back in her seat and rested her head in her hand, “What do I get for it? I mean, you know how I feel about kids, and if he’s as you say, then...”

“I mean, yeah, but he’s also not like a kid.” Freddie watched her reaction as he buttoned his dry shirt, but she only looked blankly back at him. “Well, how much do you know? About bitties in general?”

“I read into them when they were introduced, but none of the sites mentioned…” Sin shrugged, nodding at Brassberry.  

“Right, so. They’re all different. Even between all the same uh, types, they have their own personalities and preferences. Brassberrys are a newer type, but most of them are mature and can be taught whatever. It’s… well, it’s kind of difficult to explain,” he muttered, glancing down. Brass was taking little sips and swirling the chocolate drink about, but they didn’t know how much he was listening.

“Right. So, what’s your point,” Sin tilted her head at him.

“Point is, uh, he’s not a kid. If you ask him to give you some time to work, he will. Give him something to do and he’ll do it, if he wants to, and if not give him something else. He likes video games-” Freddie leaned back and pulled a piece of paper out of his jeans pocket that was slightly wet around the edges, “-and he likes horror movies and stories and stuff, but don’t uh, don’t show him too many he’ll get nightmares.”

That was met with sullen grumbling from his lap, proving the bitty clearly was listening. “Chocolate and sweet stuff is great, and letting him bake is a bonus, _and_ give him a sketchbook and art supplies and he’ll happily draw for hours. Pretty much whatever you like really.”

Sin had raised her brows, and interrupted him before he went on further like he was about to. “Sounds like you know him pretty well already, but, if he’ll give you room to work, why do you want to leave him with me?”

“I… I’m not leaving him," he started. "I just need you to watch him for me while I can’t.” He put the list on the tray and tucked the towel around Brass again. “I made a previous engagement and can’t bring him with me. It’ll take a couple weeks, and I don’t wanna leave him alone.”

“Previous engagement?” She narrowed her eyes. “For two weeks?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

She didn't know what else to say.

“I’ll pay you.”

“... Wow.”

“Just for... food and clothes and whatever you buy for him, and gas money,” he said, getting desperate. “I know I made it seem like, I don’t know, like I was messing around earlier, but… You really are the only one I trust with him. I’ve thought about this for like a _month,”_ he stressed, leaning toward her.

Brass hunched up as Freddie started pushing into his space and grabbed a handful of his shirt to avoid falling off, surprisingly making Freddie lean back and look down at him with concern. He muttered a quiet apology and nudged his nasal bone with a gentle tip of his index finger as he asked if he bothered him. Sin watched quietly as Brass hid an embarrassed grin and shook his head, burying his face happily in Freddie’s side again as Freddie took his cup and set it down.

Even with the stray animals he’d often brought off the streets Freddie was soft and loving, she mused, but this was different somehow. It wasn’t that Freddie hadn’t cared for the animals, far from it. She’d seen him holding back tears occasionally when the time came to leave them, but this… this looked like it would physically hurt him to let him go.

“Oh my god,” she groaned under her breath and tensed as the other two looked up at her. “Fine, I’ll take him in - But!” She held up a finger just as he beamed at her and opened his mouth, “Er- you have to..” she looked around, struggling for ideas, “give me ahh, a list of everything he needs and likes and, uh-”

“I’ll tell you everything you need to know!”

He beamed back at her and brought the bitty up to his chest to hug him, whispering something while Brass wrapped his arms around Freddie's shoulders to hold on.

Sin huffed, shoulders falling and looking at them both with a pout. She’d never been able to say no to him for long anyway.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 31/07/18: Minor Edits to clean things up a bit.


	2. Day One: Broken Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brass is having trouble getting settled in, but he's not the only one who's apprehensive with the arrangement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given how long it took to write this chapter at a little over 3000 words, which I thought was a lot until I saw the first chapter posted, I estimate that it'll take up to two weeks to write and edit each. And I had to cut it off too. So y'know, don't hesitate to comment and tell me what you like, or dislike, or want to see at some point, and I'll see if I can add it in. Enjoy dears~
> 
> Edit:

 

“Right, uh,” Sin muttered, crossing an arm under her chest and lightly tapping her chin with the fingers of her other hand. She leaned forward in her seat, tilting her head toward him. “So… what do you want to do?”

Brass leaned bodily against one arm of the other chair, his shoulders hunched up, knees raised under his chin, watching her silently from under his brows. A thick blanket was wrapped around him over a teddy-bear kigurumi with the hood left down, both worn like protection. He held a half eaten cookie in one hand and tightly balanced a plastic cup of milk in his lap with the other. Sin puffed out her cheeks and let out a breath; she got the feeling that might be all he would do for the next while.

“Wanna watch some tv?” she asked. Better than nothing, right? He glanced at it, back to her, and nodded the slightest movement she’d probably ever seen. She slumped back in her chair and put on Cartoon Network.

It was a rainy early Saturday afternoon, three days after Freddie had knocked on her door and asked her to look after Brassberry for him. Brass was a stray bittybone, one of thousands of living magical skeletons sold as pets, that he'd found futilely trying to stay out of the rain in an alley beside a general store a few weeks before. He’d been so soaked through there hadn’t been much point hiding. Since then Freddie had bought him clothes, toys, and books, his own phone, and seemed to be well on his way to officially adopting him. He’d even given Sin free reign to buy whatever she needed for him and promised to reimburse her for all of it.

He’d come by later that first day with the kid so he and Sin could get used to each other, bringing along a few of his favourite toys and games and food to make him comfortable while Freddie helped her clean the apartment and talked through a few lists and schedules with her. In the days after that he brought along more clothes and toys to ease them both into it, so they wouldn’t be overwhelmed as they got ready for Freddie to leave. It didn’t work.

Brass had said nothing in her presence at any time. He clung to Freddie even as the man promised vehemently to be back in a few hours for his lunch break, was almost aggressively silent, and stared unblinkingly at her whether she paid attention to him or not. It was really creeping her out.

_Why was this so hard?_ she asked herself. He was just sitting there, wrapped in a sheep print blanket, dressed in a teddy bear kigu and eating a cookie as he watched the tv. His little brows was furrowed, and he was trying to avoid getting crumbs on himself, going by the hand he held cupped beneath the other. She’d taken care of rowdier and messier kids than this…

Maybe that was it, and she just had to treat him like any of the kids she was babysitting? Because that’s basically what she was doing here. She looked over at him again. This might not be so hard after all if she just thought of it like that.

“Hey, kid,” she started, sitting up. His head snapped to her and she managed not to flinch from the intense look s if she was going to pounce on him if he so much as took his eyes off of her. “Uh, I’ve got some work to do, so I’ll be right over there.” She pointed to her desk on the other side of the room opposite the kitchen area, making sure he looked before continuing. “Call me if you need anything, ok? But also don’t be afraid to help yourself.”

He leaned back in the chair as he watched her leave, and she could feel his eyes on her back even as she sat and opened up her laptop. It took a few minutes to ignore it, but soon enough she was in the zone.

Then a ringing erupted from somewhere nearby and a hard thump from the kitchenette made her jump in her seat. One hand snapped up to her chest, the other tightening around her tablet pen at the same time as she spun around to check the damage - just the plastic cookie pot fallen from the counter while a wide-eyed, one-and-a-half-foot tall skeleton kid braced for her reaction with a flinch. He must have wandered in while she wasn’t paying attention she thought with a sigh of relief and consternation. Her whole body slumped into the chair she’d half risen out of and she rubbed a hand over her face, mourning her lost focus. The phone was still ringing.

She glanced back at it on her desk to read the caller ID, held up a finger at Brass with a stern command - “Go back to the chair, please, I’ll be with you in a minute.” - and swiped the screen to start the call. Brass shrank in on himself, his face heating up before he skittered back to his seat in shame.

The client was annoyingly demanding but Sin kept her notebook by her hand to keep the conversation on point, twirling her pen in her fingers and managing to be reasonable despite her growing ire. She agreed to get the work done by the weekend and tapped the little red circle, resisting the urge to slam the phone onto the desk. Welp, her mood was ruined.

“Blugh,” she grumbled wordlessly, getting up and stalking to the kitchen for a snack to viciously crunch on. She was past the fridge when her foot caught on something and she yelped, grabbing the counter to steady herself. “What the hell-” she twisted to see what tripped her.

The plastic cookie jar lay on its side on the floor, the contents shaken and some broken inside. She frowned at it before looking over at the chair where Brass watched her over the arm. He was tucked down so only his eye holes were showing, the pinprick blue-ish lights sharp and wide inside and the blanket covering most of his head. He seemed to be waiting for her to make a move.

She hummed and set the jar back where it was after checking it for dents, and looked over to ask him if he was hungry, but he just hid further behind the chair. She sighed and searched the fridge for sandwich stuff instead. Well, it wasn’t a big deal. She was only glad it was plastic and hadn’t shattered; she hated cleaning up and still having things prod her skin days later.

“Are you hungry? Do you like PB n’ J?” she called, mostly for something to fill the quiet by this point. Silence was fine when she was alone, but silence with another person when they weren’t comfortable with each other was just unnerving. “I also have chocolate spread and uh… tuna, or eggs. Do you like rice?”

There was something specific he was supposed to eat but she couldn’t remember what it was right then. Oh well. She’d either remember it or it’ll come up. It probably wouldn’t kill him to go without for a few hours.

She went with a chocolate sandwich for him, and cheesy scrambled eggs for herself with some pre-cooked chicken. She set his plate near the closer edge of the side table between them and dug into her food, her attention and body aimed at the tv.

 

-;-;-

 

Brass took a few minutes to come out of his blanket, watching her all the while. She wasn’t making a big deal of him being in the kitchen, and seemed to have calmed down from the phone call, but now was completely ignoring him.

He frowned, disquiet clenching in his chest as he watched her from the corner of his eye, but she didn’t move. He pushed it down, telling himself she hadn’t actually forgotten him and took a chance before he could doubt himself. His fingers twitched, slowly inching forward, careful…

He couldn’t reach it.

He let his arm fall and slumped, frowning, then looked up at Sin. She still wasn’t looking. He considered making a noise, but he didn’t want to ask her to do things for him and risk her holding it over him. He didn’t know what kind of person she was yet after all, even with Freddie's assurances.

Having her eyes on him had made him self-conscious, so sure he was going to mess up somehow and incite her irritation. His soul pulsed, imagining her sneer and push him out the door to sit alone, stared at or even stolen by anyone who walked past. Or she’d laugh at him and claim he was pointless to keep, telling Freddie what an awful pet he was and that he should have just left Brass where he found him.

He felt… forgotten again. Brushed aside, less important than cartoons, as if he didn’t matter enough to push the table a little closer- Ugh, no, he groaned inwardly and mentally shook his head.

He looked down over the edge of the chair and considered his height from the floor, cursing his short stature and wishing not for the first time, nor the last, that he was as tall as the other ‘dog-sized’ bitties.

He could just get down off the chair, but then he wouldn’t be able to get back up without help, and especially not with the sandwich in one hand. Plus he needed more milk to wash it down with. It was a real dilemma, and he wished Freddie was there to help. It didn't occur to him that if Freddie was there, they wouldn’t be in Sin’s apartment anyway.

He sighed into the blanket to muffle noise, and decided firmly he just wouldn’t eat for a while. It hadn’t been that long since lunch, he could stand it. He’d just watch tv. That was sure to distract him.

Ten minutes later the sandwich was all he could think about. He stared at it, chewing what could be called his bottom lip and feeling his magic clench somewhere in his middle. The reasons for not asking for help seemed more and more childish as time went on, but it felt… awkward? She’d already finished her eggs and set the plate on the table while his lunch grew soggy.

His hand reached out again almost unconsciously and this time he pushed further, more determined, shuffling closer to the edge of the cushion. It dipped under his meagre weight at the edge but he was careful to balance with one leg stretched out behind him and braced a hand on the edge, while the other inched forward ever so slowly.

A scream from the tv startled his soul nearly out of his ribcage and his hand slipped, throwing him head first to the floor. Time slowed down just long enough to see his mistake, to think ‘oh no’ with fewer words and more of a punch to the metaphorical gut, and then he twisted and landed with a thud, breath knocked out of his non-existent lungs. There was a stunned silence where he just lay there and the world spun dizzily around him, before a gasped _‘SHIT’_ split the air and he was pulled up into a sitting position a moment later.

“What happened, are you ok? Are you hurt?”

Brass knew it was the lady asking, but the words didn’t seem to match the shapes her mouth made even as they made them. Her face pulled into a funny expression and her hair kept falling into it. It ticked his skull. He tried to push it away but found he couldn’t quite manage-

His chest hurt, there wasn’t enough air-

“Come on, _breathe_ -”

She stressed thumping his back firmly, not enough to hurt, and just as the breath flooded in so did the pain, forcing his body to curl in on itself with a keening whine. She pulled him up into her lap with a whispered _‘oh, thank god’_ , rubbing his back and looking him over with a critical eye. “What did you land on? Where does it hurt, kid, can you show me?”

Well, it hurt everywhere, lady. He couldn’t focus enough on one place, and once he thought he pinpointed it the aches seemed to move to another location entirely. He opened his mouth to tell her that but all that came out was a sob, and another, and his eyes stung and breathing came harder - which was just odd because as a skeleton he didn’t _need_ to breath - and then his arms were around her waist and he was shaking and whimpering into her side.

She held him steady, rocking in place to calm him and rubbing his scapula over his onesie, saying words under her breath that he didn’t hear but sounded nice. A good while later after his sniffling had died down she pulled back to look over his face. “Does it still hurt?”

He tried to compose himself, rubbing his eye sockets and looking away to hide his shame, shaking his head slightly. The back of his cranium, elbow, and shoulder were a little sore from the force of his landing but he wasn’t about to admit that, and his pain meds would take care of it later anyway.

“Well if you’re sure. Up you get,” she said, hooking her hands around his ribcage to hoist him onto the chair. He shuffled back and clutched at the blanket. “You’ll be fine.”

She used the table to help her stand with a small groan, rubbing at her sore knees, and as she did, her hand touched the plate and she frowned.

“You didn’t eat,” she said, brows furrowed in disappointment. He swallowed, the clenching in his stomach stirring the beginnings of nausea as he looked down at the floor.

“Aren’t you hungry? I thought you would be what with the cookies earlier...” she looked closer at him, then picked up the plate. “Which you can’t have till after, by the way. Do you, uh, want the crusts off or something?”

Brass nodded hesitantly without looking up, and pulled the blanket further over himself. That was as good an excuse as any.

“Alright...” She hummed, eyes narrowing, and picked up his cup as she stepped around the chair. She was done no time, even coming back with a couple of cookies on the plate and leaving it on his lap when he straightened up. “There ya go,” she muttered, adjusting the blanket around him. He scratched his cheek and risked a quick glance up at her, nodding shyly in thanks and expected her to leave it at that. She seemed at first like she was going to, but she was looking between him and her chair and he had a feeling she was… expecting something.

At last, lips pursed, she ran a hand through her hair and turned away with a sigh.

“Uh, sorry, about earlier,” she mumbled, “I said you could help yourself and then told you to sit down. I… forget things I said pretty often, actually. And,” she barked a laugh that sounded less funny and more like she was resisting a cough. “then I left the sandwich out of your reach and didn’t check on you. I mean I thought you’d ask for it to be moved closer if you needed to, or even-- Anyway, point is you _are_ allowed to do what you want, within reason. And you _can_ ask for help.” She bit her lip, then nodded as if that was all, and slouched back to her desk.

He blinked and turned his upper body so he could follow her with his eyes, once more watching as she sat and lost herself in her work.

 

-;-;-

 

There were only so many cartoons and channel changes Brass could take before the tv didn’t interest him anymore. Sin was still at the desk and had got up maybe once since lunchtime to use the bathroom, then she got something from the kitchen before she was right back at it again until the laptop overheated and blacked out an hour later. She stared at it for a moment, hands still raised in the middle of working and with the stony expression of someone who’d dealt with that problem many times before before she sighed, stood and stretched.

 

Brass looked away before she could catch him just as an ad for a Mario game popped up on tv. He perked up with a small gasp and clambered off the chair, attempting to remember where Freddie put his Nintendo as he dangled on his elbows, afraid to let go too quickly. Taking a moment to gather himself, he slid down a few centimetres at a time and landed softly on the floor. His blanket was dragged down with him, dangling halfway off the chair.

 

Brass’s small suitcase of games and toys was parked in the bedroom against the wall, across from the bed, and right beside his suitcase of clothes. They were much larger than him so Freddie had instructed him to ask for help when he wanted something from them. However Brass knew he could work it alone, he didn’t need help. He’d watched Freddie open and close them a bunch of times since he’d first bought them for him, and did so himself when the man wasn’t watching. It was easy.

 

The first thing he had to do was make it lie down so all the stuff wouldn’t fall out, so he put his arms around and braced one foot beside it and _pulled_ away from the wall.

 

It didn’t budge.

 

He blinked at it as he stepped back and then down at his hands, flexing them with a confused frown. It hadn’t looked that heavy when Sin and Freddie moved it from place to place, but he was already panting and his arms and fingers hurt a little from the strain. Of course they were at least four feet taller than him too.

 

He readied himself with a stronger grip and tried again, he even grunted like they did but even so it barely shifted, dragging on the carpet.   

 

“D’you need something?”

 

Brass yelped and his fingers slipped off the case as he stumbled over his feet and fell onto his bottom. Sin winced at his second more pained noise, having darted forward instinctively to catch him even if she was too far. She knelt down in front of him to… something, help him or check if he was ok.

 

“Uh, crap, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. Again,” she muttered. She offered her hands up for him to take, which he stared at hesitantly. In the end he didn’t take them and she let them drop to her lap.

 

Usually for human kids she’d ask what happened, they’d tell her they fell and she’d hug them and ask if it was all better. It often worked, but with as weary as he was of her she didn’t want to just initiate contact like that.   

“Would you like a hug?” she asked, voice automatically becoming ‘sweet and soft’. Yeah, that’s good.

He shook his head, raising his shoulders so his head sunk in like a turtle’s. Oh. Well, it wasn’t unexpected.

“Right, uh. You wanna tell me what you wanted from your things?”

He only stared over her shoulder with a blueish-green tint to his cheekbones, hands brushing his backside as subtly as he could while holding himself stiffly.

She tried a different tack, voice still gentle. “Is it alright if I help you find it?”

His eyelights darted up to her eyes and he tilted his head a little, then glanced back at the case. He didn’t say a thing but his mouth turned down at one corner in disappointment, then he lowered his chin to his chest once which she took as an ok. She shooed him aside and kneeled to pull the case down and unzip it.  

_She did it so easily,_ he thought with a pout, but was distracted soon enough with all his toys in view. He hadn’t expected Freddie to put so many of them in. Looking over it all, his hands fumbling with the furry front pocket of his onesie, he was overwhelmed with the number of things that he realised again were just for _him_. There even looked like a few new plushies he hadn’t seen before too. _When did he get those…?_

“Well?” Sin raised a brow as she looked over it all herself, and Brass shrunk a little at the … whatever that look was on her face, even as her voice stayed mostly kind. “What were you looking for?”

He clenched and unclenched his hands in the material, letting some of the soft fur through the joints in his fingers buzz through his body’s magic, and tried to remember why he came in here. In her room. He peered up at her again, breath and soul stuck in his ribs while checking for signs of anger or annoyance about him being in her personal space, but she was busy checking out a stuffed purple bunny with long legs and didn’t notice.

When he didn’t move for a few minutes she figured he needed privacy or something and left him to it with the parting words “Just don’t leave a mess.”

Eventually he found what he was looking for - once he recalled what it was again - and left with the Nintendo 3ds and a stuffed bear, throwing them all onto the chair along with his blanket and scrambling up after them. Then he curled an arm around the bear, wrapped the blanket messily around them both, and didn’t move for a good few hours.

 

-;-;-

 

Sin later found him folded in on himself around the bear with with his face pressed into the arm cushions and the ds on the floor, and snapped a picture on her phone. She’d sent it to Freddie before tucking the kid in and sitting down to read a book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [LeenaZenyo](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LeenaZenyo/pseuds/LeenaZenyo) and [PinkCatsy](PinkCatsy.tumblr.com) on tumblr for reading over this and telling me what sucks.
> 
> 31/07/18: Minor Edits to clean things up a bit.


	3. Day One: A Bath Time

 

The dank cellar walls dripped a deep red through the darkness, thick and slimy, while chunks of something squishy fell and landed with a splat. It poured over moving shapes protruding through the walls that looked like faces, odd holes opening and closing and gurgling. A faint sound rising and falling in patterns seemed to echo through the room, but he had to strain to hear clearly.

 A noise caught his attention from one corner, behind a large… he wasn’t sure what it was, but it was long and wide and straight and looked like it weighed a ton, and its door was propped open with a plank of plywood. The same liquid was now pouring out of that like the waterfalls he’d seen on tv, and the gushing got heavier and louder to match the pounding in his chest. The red climbed up over his knees soaking his jeans the more he scrambled back to some higher level. His throat closed up and choked off the screams, not that it would've have drowned it out.

His phalanges scratched at the door, so desperate to find a handle his phalanges left tracks in the wood, trails of dust sprinkling and sparkling in the low light. Something slithered between his legs and he shrieked, splashing the liquid as he backed up as far as he could go when the sound cut off, the silence deafening and terrifying. All he could hear was whispering and his breathing and even that was muted, like there was a distance between him and his body.

The heat emanating from this gushing stuff was seeping into his joints and bones. It would have made his skin crawl if he had any. Worse, that was the--

Something moved on the back wall. Brass froze, white bones turning ashen. His soul tried to crawl up his throat while a shiver crept up his spine, the atmosphere heavy and thick in his skull.

The darkness undulated. Hid things within sight.

Everything was still.

…

A tinny shriek snapped his gaze up and he caught needle sharp teeth dropping on him, pointed fingers stabbed at his eyes--

-He screamed and flailed, arms flying at the creature and legs kicking out and then he was falling and the thing had him in it’s jaws and was sputtering unintelligible sounds-

“Brass!”

In his terror he hadn’t noticed the whispering had become sound, and the darkness of that awful cellar had lightened to a reassuring buttery yellow. He hadn’t noticed the hold on him growing secure or the stinging wetness in his sockets.

“It was just a dream, you’re safe you're-!”

His eyes were open and searching for the monster before he knew it, even while the imagined sensation of claws ripping into him and the image of a long slithery body crawling on the ceiling faded once reality got its grip on him. He inhaled sharply, grabbing handfuls of the back of her sweater and burying his face in her chest. She rearranged him carefully on her lap and rubbed the back of his skull with gentle strokes of her thumb, avoiding the bandage that had miraculously stayed put.

“Dream?” he rasped out, and coughed. His throat burned a little, his magic there sore and irritated, and the word didn’t come out anyway.

“Mhmm,” she murmured back, careful not to spook him. “You fell asleep in the chair. You’re in my living room, the tv is on behind me, and I just finished cooking rice and vegetables for dinner. Made gravy too, because on its own the rest of the meal is just bland, and hard to _swallow_.” She paused a moment. Brass sniffled, listening to her rambling through the vibrations in her chest.

“Otherwise it’s a pretty _rice_ meal,” she continued stressing some words in a funny voice, “I’ll set it up on the vege _table_ . I wouldn’t want to have made a _grave-_ y mistake though, so do tell if it’s not your _cup of tea_.”

He watched her with narrowed eyes from under his brows, trying to figure out her game.

“Mm, you’re right, that last one didn’t really fit did it?”

He blinked and twisted his face, then buried it again, feeling it warm up when she giggled. They sat comfortably for a minute, before Sin then shifted her legs to pick Brass up in her arms.

“Oh dear, did you spill something before you fell asleep? Your seat seems wet, and there’s a stain on the chair, but…  there’s no drink, come to think of it.”

Brass froze, breath coming out as a wheeze and his hold tightened on her out of reflex and let slip a whine. She then froze too putting the details together but didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Brassberry,” she started softly, “Did you- uh, does this…” she grimaced above him. He kept his face hidden and started to tremble. “How about we go get you some clean clothes? You’ll need to, um, get cleaned up first. I think Freddie left me something about that, actually. I’ll need to check the list,” she muttered to herself.

Cleaned up? He swallowed and resisted the urge to cry again, struggling between waiting for her and running to hide and take care of this himself. She rubbed his back and waited for him to reply until her arms got tired of holding him up. 

“Brass? I hate to rush you, but we should really get you cleaned. It’s… not good to stay in wet clothes, let alone ones you uh, peed in. It could give you a rash or something. Can skeletons get rashes? I’ll have to look into that…” Again she appeared to be speaking to herself. “Not to mention it’s gross.”

His breath hitched and Brass loosened his grip on her then. He hunched in on himself, trying to stand unsteadily and look away from her in shame, crossing his arms over his chest as if hugging himself and keeping his knees together. Wetting himself and crying after a dumb bad dream? How pathetic. Even worse was that she had every right to be disgusted. His eyes stung and his nasal hole burned, and he valiantly gritted his jaw to hold back sniffles and sobs. He would _not_ cry again.

“Hey it’s alright, it happened when you were asleep, right?” She leaned closer from her kneeling position and touched his elbow. “It’s ok, accidents like that happen. It wasn’t your fault, and there’s nothing to be ashamed of, ok?”

Brass still didn’t look at her, swallowing down the lump. She was lying to make him…

(maybe not to feel better. Why would she do that?)

She just didn’t want to deal with him being a baby, that was all. He’s gross.

“I swear, really. It’s ok!” She shuffled closer attempting to reassure him. “Lots of kids I've babysat wet themselves sometimes, it’s totally normal. I’ve had babies pee on me more times than I can count, and that’s before I even turned twenty.”

Brass turned his head further away and hunched his shoulders up.

“Oh geez,” she sighed under her breath, slumping. “Well, do you like baths? They’re nice right? Being all warm and floaty in water, relaxing and maybe playing with the bubbles? Or watching the water change colour with fun soaps?”

He put his head in his hands and shook harder, his bones giving off a faint rattling under his clothes from where he stood.

“No?” She exhaled. “What about a shower? It’d be very quick… Oh, or do you not want me to see you without clothes? Because I can leave the things there for you and let you get on with it...”

He looked up and shook his head emphatically at that, wide-eyes pleading a resounding _no_. 

“Not alone, then? Or is it the shower.” She sighed, and gently sat back onto her butt. “You were fine when Freddie was showing me how to clean your head. Oh, but he said something, didn’t he?”

She closed her eyes and crossed one arm under her chest again, tapping her head with the fingers of the other hand.

“What was it…”

Brass tilted his head at her, grimacing as he shifted from foot to foot trying to get the crotch of the bear suit to stop sticking to his femurs.

“Well given that it shouldn’t wait but you don’t want a bath or shower, how about I just wipe you down? Warm soapy water, hand towel, you don’t even have to get in the- oh!” She slapped her thighs, and Brass hopped back at the sound, almost bumping into the chair. “He said you were afraid of drowning, how the hell did I forget that! Shit, I’m sorry.” He looked down at that, face going teal again.

She paused. “I mean, that’s a legit fear at your size, so I don’t blame you. We could use the sink instead?”

 

-;-;-

 

It was after much wrangling and persuasion that Brass agreed to be washed, but only if he was allowed to do it his way.

She let him stand in the sink - breathing heavy, grabbing fistfuls of her shirt, and twitching at every movement - while she turned the taps on so they could know when it was full enough to his liking. He twitched his toes when the water was first too cold, and then scrambled onto the edge of the sink when it was too hot, so she held him in the crook of one arm while he tested it tentatively with his little bone fingers. 

But when the water was finally just right, he was too cramped, and the hard porcelain bit into his coccyx and Ischium, as evidenced by his constant whimpers and leaning his weight onto his hands gripping the edge of the sink. So she put another hand towel underneath to cushion him.

_Then_ the half of him that wasn’t in the water was too cold in comparison but the sink wasn’t big enough for him to lay down if he tried, so she had to keep pouring more water over him even as he kept his gaze firmly averted and his body as small as he could. Her hands were pushed away without a word when she unknowingly brushed a second towel over his sensitive spots.

After twenty minutes of that she narrowed her eyes with frayed patience, and took him out of the sink to set him on his feet on the bath mat. She plugged up the bathtub and turned the faucets to her liking, then left the room with a stern “Stay here” to brass. It was warm enough that he didn’t feel a chill but he shivered anyway, hardly breathing as he watched the water flow harshly. How soon before it reached the rim? 

And was it just him or did the lights flash red...?

She returned a few minutes later with a set of her sweatpants and a bra and set them beside Brass’s pyjamas on a shelf. By now the bath was half way full and she tested the water with a satisfied hum, before chucking off most of her clothes but her sports bra and shorts-style underpants. Brass didn’t make a sound, watching out of the corner of his eye.

“Right, I figure this’ll be easier than what we were doing before. I’ll get in first, and then I’ll settle you in my lap, or on my knees if you don’t want to sit too close. No chance you’ll slip or drown.” She confidently rested her hands on her hips and waited for his reply.

He screamed and ran.

 

-;-;-

 

He’d remember next time to back away slowly first instead of running barefoot on hard tile, but if bone could bruise he was sure he wouldn’t forget soon anyway.

He was currently hiding in an empty cupboard in the kitchen with the door mostly closed, keeping utterly silent as Sin looked for him in the other room. She'd apparently been too surprised to have grabbed him at first. She called for him to come out, that she was sorry for upsetting him and bribed him with more cookies if he did. They could drain the bath and go back to the sink. 

In the near darkness, still naked, wet and shivering, all he could see was the gushing red liquid and the screaming creature drop on him and pull him under. He couldn’t stop himself from whimpering as he closed his eyes and curled up further, head on knees and arms tight around himself.

“There’s no monster, there’s no monster, it’s not real, it’s justadreamthere’snomonsterit'snotreal…” he sobbed, breath getting ragged as his magic broiled in his ribcage and lit the inside of the cupboard aquamarine.

 

-;-;-

 

Sin stepped lightly through the bedroom door into the living room, redressed with a towel over her shoulder, and cursed herself under her breath. She’d lost her patience and frightened him, tried to push him into doing something he feared and got just the result she was supposed to avoid. It was only the first evening alone with him and she’d already messed up at least twice.

She sighed, checking behind, under and around her furniture and in the closet by the front door, before finally going to the kitchenette. The only place he could be now was the cupboards, so she withheld herself from opening them right away. Instead she sat gingerly on the tiles a couple of feet away from them and spoke softly.

“Brass? Hey, uh. I wanted to say I’m sorry. For freaking you out. And... trying to make you get in the bath, even though I knew you wouldn’t like it.” She pursed her lips and ran a hand through her hair. “The bath is just like the sink, ok? _Yes_ , it’s bigger, but that’s why I’m gonna be there too, right? You can sit on me, and be completely safe, and I absolutely promise not to let you drown, obviously.”

She paused to listen for any response, getting only muffled harsh breathing from the one empty cupboard she usually hid her messes in when the landlady visited. He either didn’t agree with her or he was having a panic attack of some sort.

“You don’t have to, though. I mean I could just get a tub or a bucket you fit better in and not fill it all the way.” 

She shuffled closer seeing a faint but sharp line of blue light streaming out from where the cupboard door wasn’t fully closed, which she opened wider. He sat against the back wall, arms around his legs and head resting on knees, bones rattling as he trembled half to death and emitted a blue-green light from inside his chest.

Human kids didn’t do that. She had no idea what to do.

He whimpered faintly, twitching like he was trying to avoid something coming at him. His noises of distress became more pronounced and Sin bit her lip, thinking quickly, but nothing came to mind. She’d have to wing it.

“Brass, I’m gonna pull you out ok?”

He didn’t hear her, or didn’t react if he did, but she took a steadying breath and reached in anyway, her fingers slipping easily under his arms to hold onto his ribcage and pull him out. He shrieked and started to thrash immediately, dragging his heels and trying to scramble back into "safety". He slid over the laminated wood and she winced as his feet and knees banged against the tiles with nothing to stop them, only to push back against her body when he reached her.

She raised him up into her lap, wrapped her arms tight around him and gritted her teeth against the sharp points of his phalanges dragging over the skin of her arms, or the stab of his pointed little teeth tearing it. Her head throbbed with his screams and growls, but luckily the room didn’t echo too much. She’d have to come up with a story for the neighbours later though. 

It took a while for his struggling to taper off along with his strength, to settle into something like calm but not, and his panting filled the room like his screams did before. He slumped against her and she felt a warm wetness on her skin, but she leaned bonelessly on the cupboards and didn’t care enough to move.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants anything tagged, please let me know and I'll add it.
> 
> I was stuck for quite a bit on this one, not least because my motivation to write, or do anything, plummeted in the first week. Still, I'm trying to make it a point to myself to keep up with this. Thank you for reading, it really helps, so don't be afraid to say something, ok?
> 
> 31/07/18: Minor Edits to clean things up a bit.


	4. Day One: The Phone call

  
  


The water was cold by the time she went back an hour later. She grumbled about the waste but left it as a job for another time, instead filling up the sink again with more warm water and some bath bubbles. Brass merely leaned bonelessly (hah) against her, exhaustion pulling at his limbs like lead (-he’d cried again, thin gasping sobs and hitching breaths, thoroughly wearing himself out-) and didn’t comment, but let her move him as she wished, eyelids half closed as he watched her hands and avoided her eyes.

 

She’d apologised when he finally stopped screaming, and while he hadn’t spoken at all, his clinging told her he forgave her somewhat. Or that he at least wasn’t afraid she’d drown him anymore. Or he was just desperate for comfort.

 

They took the next bath slow. He didn’t trust her to clean his wound, if the half-hearted growling and the hardly-intimidating puppy eyes were anything to go by, but she cleaned around it for the moment, drying each of his bones methodically from the neck vertebrae down and wrapping him in one of her fluffier towels. Then she carried him to her single bedroom and sat him against her pillows while she looked for his pajamas in the suitcase. When she turned around again he was rubbing his face in the towel with his eyes closed and humming, almost purring, like a cat.

 

She snorted and looked for her phone, remembering she’d left it in the living room after his nightmare, and watched him for a moment to chance it’s retrieval.

 

“I’m just gonna go get something, alright?” she murmured, half hoping he didn’t hear. He didn’t make a sound or look up, so she slipped away and made sure her phone was on silent before snapping a couple pictures from different angles and locking the screen in case he saw.

 

She roused and dressed him, looking off to the side when he got embarrassed so she had to put his pajama shorts on him using her peripheral vision. Then she wrapped him up in another soft blanket and deposited him in her armchair with the stuffed purple rabbit, the first plush she grabbed. (Well, the one she liked the most.) The cushion cover from the soiled seat of the other chair was unzipped and thrown it in the wash basket for later, along with his onesie.

 

“Now that that’s done, it’s time for dinner,” she said, sighing with relief. “It’ll be colder than the bath water by now, but at least we can re-heat it…”

 

She set about re-cooking the rice and vegetables while he watched tv, his sockets half-lidded and snuggling the rabbit occasionally. She’d just set their plates down on the coffee table when there was a noise from her room.

 

“Ah, dammit, I was so close to sitting down too,” she muttered, pushing the table closer to Brass’s chair and walking away. “Brass, eat your food. I’ll be right back.”

 

The noise was her ringtone, a simple high-pitched rhythmic chiming that she could hear from anywhere in the apartment and could only be one of a few people calling. The caller ID proved her right. She took in a couple breaths before answering, hoping it didn't come off 

 

“Hey Freddie, how’s it goin’?”

 

 _“Sin, hi! I’m... feeling pretty shit right now. I can’t wait to sleep, but it’s 11am here and Dad would kill me. I need good happy words to get me through the day, please.”_ He sounded cranky and hopeful. _“How’re you doing? How’s Brassy?”_

 

She glanced back into the living room. “We’re… good. He’s alright.”

 

A beat of silence. _“I can hear the bad news in your voice. What happened?”_

 

“Pfft, there’s no bad news,” she snorted out a fake laugh, even as she heard the lie in her own voice. “I mean, nothing bad happened. Really… He’s fine.” She added in a more serious tone, if insincere.

 

 _“Sin.”_ She could hear the tone he used when he was about to lecture her.

 

“Ok, ok, he had a bad dream,” she interrupted him before he could start. “And then he kinda.. peed himself.. Which I really want to know the mechanics of, because he’s a skeleton, yknow? There’s no organs, so where does it all go, where is it stored-?”

 

 _“Sigh.”_ He vocalised the sigh pointedly, because that’s what he did. 

 

“Right, right. Then he freaked out when I tried to put him in the bath, even though I totally assured him I wouldn’t let him drown or anything. I was gonna get in too!”

 

_“I told you, he’s nervous around strangers and large collections of water.”_

 

“First off, it’s a story, ok,” she said flatly. “And second, well, whose fault is it that I’m a stranger, hm? You could have brought him over weeks ago and he’d be used to me by now, and _I’d_ know what to _do_!”

 

_“Uh-?”_

 

“I thought you loved me, Freddie,” Sin mock pouted, whipping out the words with drama and a poor imitation of Freddie's own Californian accent. “Am I not your friend anymore? Your best bud, your pal? Did you find someone better at last to hang out with and talk to about your problems?” She sniffed and affected a put-upon sigh.

 

There was a snort through the receiver and she smiled, dropping the accent.

 

“But yeah, we’re getting along as well as we could be. He didn’t scratch my face off, and I … didn’t yell, or drown him, or anything. It went fairly well,” she hummed. “Just don’t leave him with me again without being here to help. He’d- well we’d both be more comfortable with you around.”

 

 _“Yeah, I know. I’d actually been planning to bring him over to see you for a while, but this thing came out of nowhere and I had to make it a crash course_.” He sighed, and Sin winced as the sound came through as a gust of static. _“There’s a chance I’ll come back early, but I’m not sure yet. Way too early to know for sure- ahh!”_

 

He yelped, the sound distant like he’d taken the phone away from his face, and then there was grunting and struggling and a clack of what sounded like plastic hitting a hard surface. When he spoke again he sounded slightly winded.

  
_“Almost missed my case,”_ he laughed weakly.

 

Sin winced. “Are you ok?”

 

_“Yeah yeah, just- uh, avoided an accident."_

 

There was a touch on her leg and she squeaked, jolting back a step and looking down to see Brass bringing the rabbit up to cover his face, wide eyes staring up at her. Sin let out the breath she held and put the phone back up to her ear, and Freddie’s faint voice from the receiver became clear again.

 

_“-Sin? What happened, are you ok?”_

 

“Yeah, just uh... Brass... startled me.” Brass pointed at the phone and made timid grabby motions with his fingers. She cleared her throat. “He wants to talk to you.”

 

 _“Really? Ohh, can you give him the phone, please?”_ Freddie sounded like he was trying to keep his ecstatic feelings down and was a step away from squeeing in delight right then. Sin rolled her eyes and snorted, amused.

 

“Talk to you later then. Text me when you get home, okay?”

 

He agreed and she handed the phone over. “Here ya go. You wanna talk in here or the living room?”

 

Brass looked between them and then pointed where he stood before putting the phone to his ear hole, waiting for her to leave before speaking. She nodded and walked back, looking down at the plates with a sigh as she sat. 

 

“Well, who cares. I’m not heating it up again,” she muttered. She turned the cushion over in the seat Brass slept on and slumped in it, turned on the tv and sat back in the chair, resting the plate on crossed legs as she ate.

 

-;-;-

 

Brass made sure Sin was distracted before pushing the door mostly closed, leaving it ajar enough to pull it open by his digits.

 

“Daddy?”

 

_“Hi, Brassy! How are you, sweetheart?”_

 

“I’m... ok,” he lied. “Daddy, when are you coming back?”

 

_“It’s only been a few hours yet, sweetie, remember I said I’m gonna be here for two weeks? I’m sorry for leaving you so suddenly, but it’s ok, Auntie Sin will take good care of you, I promise."_

 

“But I miss you..” Brass frowned. He didn’t even have to try to sound sad, he was already feeling it.

 

 _“I miss you too, baby,”_ Freddie sighed, his frown clear in his tone. Was he upset with Brass already? His chest tightened and he shuddered, fingers tight around the phone.

 

“Then come back!” he whined. “If you miss me come back. Please?”

 

_“It’s not that simple, Brassy, I’m sorry. There’s something important I need to do here for my dad, and then I can come home, okay?”_

 

“But why can’t your dad come here instead? Make him come here!”

 

Freddie laughed, a short laugh of surprise and regret. _" He’s too old to go places so I go to him. I’d bring you with me, but my parents...aren’t very nice if you don’t know them. I don’t want you to be upset and bored.”_

 

His eyes prickled, breath hitching as he struggled to get the words out. “I won’t be if I’m with you! A-and if I meet your parents, then- th-then they’ll know me! Then they’ll be nice, right?”

 

 _“But I won’t be able to take care of you there. I can’t give you cuddles or kisses or play video games with you, or give you baths-_ ”

 

“I don’t care, I’ll just stay with you!” Brass sniffled, struggling for words. “I’ll be quiet, and I won’t burn anything or break any more plates, I promise! I-Is that why you w-won’t come back? Did I d-do something wr-wrong?” He sobbed, voice breaking on the last word.

 

 _“No! No, baby, you didn’t do anything wrong, I swear it’s- I’ll see if I can come back early, ok? I promise, you didn’t do anything wrong, and I_ will _come back to you soon, ok? Please don’t cry sweetie.”_

 

“But I want you back now!” Brass cried, hiccuping and whining. “Please, Daddy...!”

 

 _“I hear you sweetheart, and I promise, I’ll be back soon, Brassy. I_ will _come back to you,”_ Freddie insisted, voice losing some of its strength as he tried to calm him. _“Why don’t you go ask Auntie Sin for a hug sweetie, I know that’ll make you feel better. Can you put her on the phone for me?”_

 

Brass didn’t respond, just repeating over and over that he missed him and wanted him back through heavy sobs and wailing and Freddie trying to get through to him until the sound cut off. Brass didn’t notice, nor did he react to the hand coming down to hold his fist clenched in his shirt, or the other rubbing his skull. When it reached for the phone he shrieked and jerked it away, holding it to his chest and ducking back.

 

“No, you can’t!” he screamed, eye sockets squeezed tight and stamping his feet. “I want him back! I want him to come back!”

 

“I won’t take it from you,” Sin told him calmly, wincing at the level of his voice. She sat down slowly in front of him, legs crossed and palms up on her knees while she waited for him to calm. He stopped wailing so deafeningly loud and watched her through heavy tears as if waiting for her to strike or yell, his tiny shoulders and ribcage shuddering with the force of his heavy breathing. It took another long few minutes for his bawling to dwindle until he was merely sniffling and rubbing his eyes

 

Meanwhile, Sin slogged through faint memories of light research on how to talk to upset children, only picking out that she needed to validate his reason for being upset and talk him through it, help him reason or find a solution and not give attention to negative reactions. Or something. She’d never been good at on the spot recall.

 

“I just came to see why you’re upset.” She kept her tone level and soft, her expression something barely positive so he wouldn’t think he was being scolded. She was so physically and mentally tired after today and really couldn’t deal with any more tantrums, she didn’t want to create one too. “I- um, I know you want Freddie to come back-”

 

Shit, he’d scrunched up his face again, breathing shallow and quick as if readying for more.

 

“And he will! He always comes back,” she pushed on, hands coming up defensively as if that would stop him screaming. “Until then, _we_ can hang out! You can tell me or show me all about what you and Freddie did, and your favourite things, or um. He said you like drawing. And cooking, right?”

 

Brass blinked through his tears and nodded hesitantly, taken aback by the new direction. Well more like twitched his chin down and back up again, but still. She picked up the rabbit from where it’d fallen and slowly held it out to him, keeping her expression encouraging as he reached out for it.

 

“Why don’t you show me what you like to cook?”

 

-;-;-

 

She fed him as he drew pictures at the coffee table in markers and coloured pencils of the things he’d cooked. He’d stopped chewing to focus on a detail and forgot to start again often enough that she threatened to lightly poke him with the crayons ‘til he did.

 

In the pictures he was tall enough to reach the upper cupboards, wearing a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders and brown trousers. In a couple of them Freddie stood beside him and praised him for a fine meal, reaching around a foot taller than Brass and his hair was glossy golden shades of oranges and yellows, a sandy brown over the shaved sides. Brass was surprisingly good at drawing, with consistent heights and an eye for details.

 

He then painstakingly crafted half pages of meals that Sin had either only seen on gourmet cooking competition shows, or simple things like grilled cheese and soups and french toast. He could bake too, and the pictures of chocolate cake made her mouth water. He spent a lot of time on the cheesecake picture, a tidbit that she filed away for the next shopping trip.

 

Part of the way through, Sin had forgotten they were still eating and simply stared, amazed, at his fine lines and the smooth strokes until he stopped and looked up, hesitating before pushing the papers toward her.

 

Sin didn’t speak, pushing the plate toward him to pick them up and shift through, stopping to gawk at the detail in each one as if she hadn’t watched him make them minutes before.

 

“These pictures are _amazing,_ Brass. How long did it take you to get to this level?” She asked, awed. Her eyebrows raised with interest with every new detail, then she stacked the papers to one side. “And you really made all these things?”

 

Brass looked up with a mouthful of rice. She put up a finger when he opened his mouth to speak.

 

“Actually, swallow your food before talking, okay?”

 

He closed his mouth with a click and nodded, chewing his food quickly. Sin looked him over critically in the meantime, making sure to keep herself from frowning in thought like she usually would. She’d successfully distracted him from Freddie, more or less, by asking him about something he liked; he was finally eating well enough. He’d left some of the sandwich earlier, though that was probably because of the cookies...

 

He swallowed hard, took a few sips of water and put the glass down carefully before looking at her.

 

“I drew when I was bored while my last human was at school. And I watched a lot of youtube,” he said quietly, voice low and gravelly, a little raw from all the screaming. He shrugged and paused awkwardly, then shoved a forkful of rice in his mouth.

 

Sin hummed and nodded, now with an opening to talk about something she’d been curious about.

 

“Your last human?” she asked casually. She pulled her own plate close again, scooping some gravy-drowned rice and spearing a slice of carrot. There was literally enough gravy to drown everything else. Brass had made a face at her, having taken very little himself. “Can you tell me what they were like? How long did you live with them?”

 

Brass stared down at his plate as he chewed, eating much more slowly and picking out the vegetables to one side as he thought, or moving the food around. Sin waited a few minutes. The longer she waited, watching his fork build and knock down little white hills, the more she regretted asking him. It looked he was mentally kicking himself for saying anything at all.

 

Freddie said he’d found the little guy shivering in the rain in a supermarket car lot. She imagined it would be hard speaking about a person who’d do that to him. Perhaps he had even cared about them; she’d read that Brassberry bitties attached pretty quickly and severely to people.

 

“You don’t have to tell me about them if you don’t want to,” Sin murmured, pulling her attention back. She was a little disappointed but kept it from bleeding out in her tone, instead making it encouraging and soft. “Remember, it’s your choice. You don’t have to unless you want to. Ok?”

 

Brass swallowed his mouthful and bit his lip, eyelights darting every which way as his brow bones furrowed in the middle. He breathed in deeply and let out it out with a heavy sigh that shifted the papers.

 

“As long as I’m saying this, that goes for everything here, actually,” she continued, looking up at him. She set her fork down for a moment. The gesture caught his attention and made him peer up from under his brow bones, so she looked him in the eye. “Aside from the stuff I have to insist on, such as bathing, eating, and not leaving the apartment without me, you have a choice in basically everything else.

 

“Actually, I’ve even been thinking of making a list of rules for us.” She tapped the side of the plate in thought, glancing down at the papers. “Something for both of us, so we know what to expect from each other and what to do when we slip up. And so we don’t have another- well.”

 

Brass had stopped shifting his food about and now regarded her plainly. He didn’t know what to say to that. Should he reply? Was she expecting him to?

 

“You’re allowed to choose them too, or change some if you think they need it,” she continued, looking back at him now. He would have turned away, but he was too surprised. He didn’t know why, since despite the things she did today that upset him, she’d apologised and tried to make it better afterwards. “Okay?” Her voice brought him back to present, and he opened his mouth to speak.

 

“Okay,” he squeaked, his face heating up. He cleared his throat and quickly nodded instead, hunching his shoulders up to hide himself and looking down at his plate again.

 

“It’s alright,” she said quietly. “You’re allowed to have control over what happens to you.”

 

He glanced up again before he could stop himself, only to see that she was smiling kindly at him. He smiled tremulously back and turned his head down so she wouldn’t see the nervous tears building up again, but he did feel a little lighter, the knot in his chest loosening.

 

-;-;-

 

She left him to go and charge her phone after that, the tv set to some cartoon for him to think about instead and wipe the tears away in privacy.

 

She let it charge for about a minute before turning it on, watching everything load again and waiting for any notifications to pop up. There was one missed call and two messages from Freddie, and one from her service provider. She opened that one first, skimmed through and moved onto the next.

 

_Freddie, 8:16 pm_

_Brassy, I’m sorry, I know you’re upset. I’ll try to get back to you as you as I can, but until then you have auntie sin to take care of you. You can ask for whatever you like, just like you can ask me ok? I love you lots baby <3 x _

 

_Freddie, 8:21 pm_

_S_ _in, I packed things he likes to keep him occupied but  you should take him out to places too. The park, the mall, shopping, that cafe you like. Thank you again so much for watching him, I really appreciate it <3 x _

 

Sin hummed, considering whether to tell Brass what Freddie said, but in the end decided on leaving it for a little while and went back to the living room. He was clearly still emotional even if he was calm on the surface, and she didn’t want to push him back again.

 

He’d finished his rice and had curled up on her armchair again, his attention divided between the sketchbook and the tv, so Sin left him to it and finished her own dinner before rinsing the dishes and leaving them in the sink for later. She let him know she’d be on her computer and that bedtime was 9:30, then sat at her desk and fell into silence. The only sound was the slight scratching of pen on tablet and the occasional click-tap of the keyboard.

 

-;-;-

 

When the 9:30 cartoon came on Brass dawdled for a bit, watching her.

 

He’d been watching her for a while actually, on and off, trying to ready himself to go to her. It was hard, trying to physically work up the courage.

 

He didn’t especially want to go to bed, sure that the monster thing was waiting for him in the back of his mind for him to lower his guard, but he didn’t want to disturb her either. She’d said he could tell her things, right? That he could do whatever he wanted within reason, if he wanted to, or didn’t have to if he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to sleep, yet she’d insisted on him sleeping by 9:30.

 

He sighed, huddling down in his blanket and pulling Purple Rabbit to his face as he teared up again. He missed Freddie so much it was like a physical ache in his chest. Freddie would have given him kisses and cuddled him and stayed with him at least until he fell asleep, maybe longer. And while Brass had his own bed, sometimes he slept on Freddie’s much larger bed with him if he was scared or worried, and Freddie never said no to that.

 

He should ask her. She _said_ he could. Freddie repeatedly told him that back at home too. He just had to... walk over there. Looking down at the bunny who stared back at him with little round embroidered black eyes, blank except for a white highlight in each, he sighed.

 

“You think I should go over there and tell her?” he whispered.

 

The bunny nodded and patted his cheek, guided by his hand.

 

“You don’t think she’ll laugh or anything? The old lady did.”

 

 _She was a mean old lady though. She didn’t like anyone, not even her own kids,_ Purple Rabbit replied in his mind. _This lady didn’t laugh at you. If she really didn’t want to look after you she would have told Daddy before._

 

“She wasn’t mean on purpose.” Brass nuzzled Rabbit, his tears rubbing away on it’s fleecy belly.

 

_Go tell her._

 

Sin looked up five minutes later at the hand tugging tentatively on her shirt and blinked down at him. It took a moment to come out of her frowny squinting work haze, but when she did she looked at the time in the corner of her screen, saved her work with a quick _click-tap_ of her keyboard and put down the tablet and pen to turn to him.

 

“Sorry, I tend to get lost in my work. Well done coming to tell me, though; I'm proud of you." She smiled down at him and held her hands out to him out of habit, used to doing it for other children. Brass swallowed, something warm blooming in his chest at the words as he reached up for her, and she stood with him and Rabbit in her arms. 

 

-;-;-

 

_Tell her you want a kiss._

 

Brass bit his lip as Sin tucked him in, curled up on his side and squeezing Rabbit to it’s metaphorical death in his arms. His eyes wandered anywhere but to her.

 

_Go on, she’ll leave soon!_

 

“There you go. Comfy?” she asked softly, watching him from her crouch beside his bed. He glanced once at her and turned his head down.

 

“Looks like you want to say something.” She raised her brows.

 

Brass shifted and hid his face in the pillow for a moment, biting his lip as he plucked up the courage to ask. Why was just talking so hard? Then he turned his head so one eye light was visible and held Rabbit up to her.

 

She looked at it for a moment, then gently took it out of his hands. She seemed to be thinking of something.

 

“Hello, Mr Rabbit. Do you have something to tell me for Brassy?”

 

It nodded and she held him 'mouth' to her ear. “Mhm. Mhmm. He wants… a good night hug. Is that right?” she asked Brass kindly, who flushed and hid his face again. She continued. “Well that’s easy. Why don’t you help me give Brass a good night hug, Mr Rabbit?”

 

Brass felt a something touch his cheek and he put up a hand to it, looking up again to find it was Rabbit, and behind it, Sin with an amused playful glint in her eyes and a curl to the corner of her lips.

 

“There he is, Mr Rabbit,” she said quietly, watching him. “You found him. How about you let him up so we can give him that hug to send him off to sleep, hm?”

 

She moved Rabbit back and sat it on the pillow, it’s little arm waving for Brass to sit up. He watched Sin for a moment longer in case she retracted the offer, and when she still waited he slowly pushed himself up into sitting, turning to them. Sin held Rabbit out to him with it’s arms up, and Brass reached for him immediately, hugging it to his chest and nuzzling it. She sat on the bed beside his legs and held out her own arms to him and he darted into them before he could second-guess himself further, desperate to be held.

 

Brass had Rabbit ask her to stay the same way he would have asked Freddie, with a shy whisper. She wrapped one arm around his back and the other open hand stroked his ribs and spine as he pressed himself against her, tucking his head against her clavicle while she pulled a corner of his blanket over him. Freddie was right. He did feel better.

 

They stayed like that until Brass dozed off, lulled by the contact, warmth, and security.

 

-;-;-

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's been a whole month since the last chapter, and I'm really sorry about that =v=;; It was really hard to get the words down for some reason. I have some of the more major plot bits planned for the week, but I encourage planting ideas over here too ^^ Thank you for reading!
> 
> 31/07/18: Minor Edits to clean things up a bit.


	5. Day two: Testing Limits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brass testing a few things out with the knowledge that he won't be scolded for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for dream violence, implied self-harm within the dream. Feel a bit iffy about it, so please let me know if anyone needs a tag for it.

 

  
Sin woke slowly and lay in bed for at least ten minutes before she was semi-aware. Realising it was not the bedroom light but early morning sun shining a muted yellow through the covers took another five minutes. It was another two before she was aware of heavy pressure on her arm and that she was curled around a small lump.

 

She groaned, rubbing her eyes with her free hand before cracking them open only to pause seeing Brass - ie the lump - snuggled into her chest, one hand clutching at her nightshirt. The other hand was tucked between them and the bed where his thumb trailed saliva from his mouth. Rabbit was squished in the crook of his arm receiving most of the drool on it’s face. The memory of the last few days trickled back slowly.

 

...Right.

 

Freddie. Brassberry. Babysitting. Well, bitty sitting.

 

She stared at him in the peaceful silence, at his clear and unafraid face and wondered when he'd started trusting her enough to climb into bed with her. He hadn't been there when she collapsed into it last night. At 3am he'd been fast asleep and tangled in the covers of his own little bed, Rabbit on the floor, drool glistening on one side of his face and one of his little feet dangling over the side.

 

She spent a moment blearily checking him over for signs of pain or a bad dream, but there was nothing outwardly unusual so she leaned back on the pillow and let herself drift.

  
-;-;-

 

The apartment was quiet as usual, but the general background sounds were missing. No cars outside, no faint singing or banging from the neighbours nor pipes struggling. The faint missable hum of the fridge was absent.

 

Sin took a moment of peering around the bedroom through the dark. What faint light there was coming from the window was muted and murky, undulating, and the space felt hollow. She was alone though, that much she could tell before she even sat up and her feet set upon on the carpet.

 

Wait.  

 

Why was it wet?

 

She shivered and pulled her feet back up with a scrunched up face, leaning forward ever so slightly to see what she’d touched.

 

The space around her bed was swallowed in glistening black, and aside from the light from the window the rest of her room was grey and flat, toneless. There was a powerful smell of death hanging around, clinging to the inside of her throat and making her stomach clench as she gagged.

 

Her feet were clean as she raised them but when she looked back they were soaked in the black stuff to the ankles and gaining. It seemed to crawl but when she screamed and scrambled back it was gone and her skin was clear.

 

She shuddered grabbed for blankets to pull around her but they were gone too, vanished into nothing.

 

The darkness was closing in from the corners. She jumped for the door on impulse, landing on the clear part of the carpet with a wince at the expected twinge in her ankle and pushing through to the living room-

 

She froze.

 

Everything was bright and airy and _clean_.

 

The door behind her was closed when she looked again even though she’d just come through it, and the room smelled of pancakes and butter. When she glanced over, expecting… Who was she expecting? It didn’t matter anyway, because no one was there. The kitchenette was deserted. The pan sizzled.

 

The tv started behind her, buzzing with static like the old boxy monsters from when she was a kid but when she snapped around to look, it stopped and her dad was sitting there.  
  
“Love, ‘ave yuh seen yuhr muther? It’s ‘er turn t’ mek breakfast but she’s gone an’--”

 

The rest of his words were a jumbled mess that she understood but wouldn’t have been able to repeat, like reading subtitles for a language you were half fluent in. He said she needed to check the bedroom, that one of her sisters had cut herself shaving again and bled everywhere. Then he melted into the sofa, his skin shriveling and falling off and leaving his clothes behind. Her mother walked up behind her, tutting and shaking her head fondly.

 

“‘E always did that, your dad. What am ah’ gonna do with ‘im.” She clicked her tongue against her teeth and told Sin to tidy up, they had guests in a few minutes.

 

The doorbell rang, some part of her mind reminding her that apartments didn't have doorbells, and she opened the front door. A pack of wolves stood by, as if waiting politely for permission to enter. She stared wide-eyed while their eyes gleamed and they licked their muzzles, grinning toothily. She slammed the door on them while her mother’s voice chided her on how impolite that was. Before she could reply the wolves barged in and tore out her throat--

 

Her head snapped up and she scrambled into sitting only for her back to hit the wall. She inhaled hard and spluttered as she choked on air and spit, clenched fists pulling the covers up in self-defense for what little help it would be. In the ensuing silence the only sound was her gasps for breath, the pounding in her chest, and the thunderous roar in her ears.

 

Dust motes floated in the faint light streaming between the curtains. She buried her face with a sigh into the soft, calm darkness her covers offered before a faint, almost inaudible murmuring and a timid pat on her upper arm jerked her back to reality. Her head snapped to look at what touched her, twisting away from the thing and blinking in confusion at the wide-eyed skeleton peeking from behind a lump of her covers by her leg. His hand was pulled back to his chest.

 

She must have scared him, she thought, letting her shoulders fall.  

 

“Hey,” she mumbled, voice thick and heavy, raspy from sleep. Her brain felt the same way but unfortunately that wasn’t as easily fixed. She cleared her throat, then yawned with her mouth covered.

 

“‘Mornin'. 'Ow long have you been 'wake?”

 

Ugh, her face felt wrong and gross. She scrunched it up and stretched it out. Brass watched her for a long moment as if waiting for another freakout. She must have startled him quite a bit, she thought guiltily when he shrugged and glanced down and away.

 

Yes and no questions it was then.

 

“Do you usually wake up this early?” she asked lightly, finger combing her hair into some semblance of order and watching him through it.

 

He shook his head, peering up at her now that he couldn't see her eyes. Thank goodness, he probably wasn’t a morning person either. Though now she thought about it, as a Sans type that was a given for him.

 

“Did you have a bad dream?”

 

A pause, then a shrug.

 

“So, not a bad dream. A weird one that woke you up, maybe?”

 

Another pause and a slow nod. He tilted his head and adjusted his legs, kneading at the blankets.

 

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

  
  
He made a face that told her he was considering it as what passed for his lips flattened in a line and his brows furrowed. She was sure she’d never get over that. Those pliable and expressive bones as soft and supple as skin, tiny sharp fangs behind that, and even what looked like an actual tongue that showed on the few occasions he spoke or cried. Weird.

 

He bit his lip, then fisted the blankets and released them. Repeat. Rubbed his nasal bone. Scratched around the bandage over his head wound. Looked around at the blank bed covers, the sparse furniture, the bare walls.

 

“You don’t have to tell me,” Sin finally assured him, pushing her hair back and angling her face toward him. “I’m not going to make you. We could just get up instead. Wash up for breakfast. Watch tv.”

 

Brass blinked at her and nodded haltingly, and in similar movements held an arm up to her while the other squeezed his toy to his chest. Sin smiled and reached out with both hands, letting him lean the rest of the way in to be picked up and start getting ready for their day.

 

-;-;-

 

Since she was a kid, Sin had always wanted a cat. She loved the way they moved, the funny things they did, their self-sufficiency. And selfishly, she wanted someone to hold and cuddle and love her unconditionally on a bad day, or bad night, or bad month. There had been a few obstacles to actually getting one however, which had made her more determined to get one.

 

Brass would make a good cat. Though, not for the reasons she was expecting, she thought as she watched him from her seat on the toilet.

 

Upon entering, he’d given the bathtub a single cursory glance and an ugly glare, and from then on ignored it. She did notice him glancing at it and then her occasionally, probably worried that she might try to bathe him again.

 

He asked if he could look around at things and she allowed it, agreeing just so he wouldn't watch her while she peed. Naturally the first thing he did was glance into the toilet bowl before she used it with his hands braced on the seat.

 

He’d reached up to the sink basin but was too short to see over it, so she’d given him the stepping stool once she was done washing her hands and he played with turning the faucet on and off until she warned him not to waste water. With everything there was a few seconds of hesitation as he glanced at her for reproval, and each time there was a nod and motion of hands pushing him on.

 

Currently he was sitting cross-legged on the tiled floor, looking through the objects in her cupboard under the sink. He’d opened the first-aid box and held the objects inside it out to her to explain what they did, nodding as she spoke and turning them in his hands. He lost interest in that shortly and put it back as he found it.

 

The bottle of air freshener was next. He read the instructions, jerking back and dropping the can when he accidentally sprayed some over his shoulder trying to squeeze the trigger lever. He blushed when she asked if he was ok, nodding and putting it back with feigned disinterest. He smelled the new soap, taking it out the packaging and turning it in his hands, and put it back when he was satisfied. Finally, he found her pads and a box of tampons near the back.

 

Sin made no move to stop him or tell him what they were unless asked and watched curiously to see what he did.

 

Brass unfolded a single pad packaging and peeled it away, just touching the ends of his digits to the sticky side again and again until he got up and stuck it to the underside of the sink. Sin snorted and laughed into her hand, and he grinned back in response.

 

Next were the tampons. He ripped open the little tube shaped package and took it out, turning it over in his hands, squeezing it and pulling at the string curiously, before he glanced up at Sin. She was leaning back against the sink, watching him.

 

She told him it's to soak up blood that came from her body on her period every month. He blinked, face twisting in horror and morbid curiosity, before curiosity won out and he stood up to hold it up to her, silently asking for a demonstration.

 

She showed him, holding the outside cover in one hand and pushing the end with the string inward so the actual cotton tube popped out the other end. He pulled it out and examined it as he had earlier, marvelling at the softness. He rolled it in his hands, picking at it and ‘drawing’ on his face with various pressures, his tongue sticking out one side of his mouth.

 

Until it slipped and went in his eye socket.

 

“Ahh!” He flinched, fingers scrambling to pull it out only for it to fall inside, the string lost within the depths of his skull.

 

“Oh, jeez,” Sin muttered, startled, aborting her move to reach for him and watched him with wide eyes. Biting her lip as she kneeled, she uncertainly held her hands out for his hands and tried not to laugh. “Ok, uh... Calm down, kid, you won’t get it out like that. Does it hurt?” 

 

Brass didn’t hear her, or if he did he wasn’t paying attention. He was doing what he could to remove it the way an animal would, shaking his head, pawing, scratching at his socket and hissing, and ultimately getting nowhere.

 

Sin called for him again and again, trying to calm him with words before she sighed and gently but firmly held his arms to his sides. He struggled to reach his face still while some sort of blueish liquid gathered at his eyes, despite that his sockets were squeezed together.

 

_“Brassberry.”_

 

Brass froze, sockets snapping wide open and one tiny teal ring of light staring up at her in panic as a whine escaped him. Sin blinked at the change, but didn't let it deter her too long.

 

“It’s alright, you’re ok. We’ll get it out. Right?” she said, voice level and calm as she kept her gaze on that light. "Just stay calm, stay- try to think about how it happened, so you can figure out how to get it out. Now,” she tilted her head down, watching his eye and facial movements to make sure he was paying attention. Her tone was soft but clear. “Does it hurt?"

 

He was trembling but otherwise seemed to be checking himself over, and eventually shook his head side to side a little.

 

“Good, that’s good. Can you feel it inside?”

 

A nod this time, cringing as he looked up at her and sniffled.

 

“Right, uh. Then. It should… fall out the bottom of your jaw, right?" Sin gently nudged his chin up with her fingers and looked underneath, feeling unobtrusively around the bone there.

 

His hand freed, Brass scratched at his jaw and picked at the underside before Sin tapped his hand sternly and put it down on his sternum.

 

“Is it ok if I look?” she asked him, looking into his visible eye light. “Can I put my finger in to take it out? You can tap my arm to tell me to stop."

 

His mouth thinned and he whined petulantly, brows furrowing up as more of that bluish stuff gathered in his sockets but he nodded and closed his eyes. He let her ever so slowly tilt his head back under her hands while supporting the rest of him so he wouldn’t fall.

 

“Good boy, thank you dear,” she whispered. “I'll be very careful, you won't even feel a thing…"

 

She mumbled on, keeping words going as she glanced around in the surprisingly limited light in his skull. It was almost like something tangible and invisible was concentrated there that blocked or even absorbed the light-

 

She spotted it. The tampon stuck out loosely somewhere on the ridge at the back of the skull, just within reach. She stuck two fingers in and tugged it out and it was over before they knew it.

 

“There see, now- oh.” she grimaced when he jerked away and gagged into his hands, tongue sticking out for a moment as his gag reflex worked itself out. Why his body had one she wouldn’t know, but she made a mental note to find out.

 

She rubbed his back and held him up until the nausea left him and then examined the object instead, turning it in her hands. She held it up to the light while squinting and was sure it hadn’t sparkled before Brass ate it through his eye socket. Hmm. She decidedly left it on the corner of the nearest shelf to look at properly later.

 

Brass leaned on her and sniffed, wiping his sockets with the heel of his hands. Sin gently pulled them away, wiping his face more thoroughly away with the pads of her thumbs. She brought him to her and wrapped her arms around his back, keeping them light and just letting him calm down. He seemed to not know where to look anymore, but the contact helped him not be so nervous. He made some odd breathy noises as he tried to bring up the will to speak, stopping and starting. His hands scratched at each other and wrung together, the sound of scraping bone odd and slightly grating.

 

“‘M… ‘m s’rry…” he mumbled, immediately hiding his face when his voice cracked on the word. 

 

“You don’t have to apologise.” She picked him up under the arms and stood, holding him so his femurs rested on her forearm while he held her shoulders and leaned close, hiding his face in his sleeve. “It wasn’t your fault, dear. It was an accident.”

 

She asked if he needed to use the toilet, and when he declined she told him he could change his mind if he wanted to then headed to the kitchen.

 

-;-;-

 

Breakfast was a casual affair. Unlike with Freddie, who had pampered him and presented him with a host of fruits, toast, muffins, milk and juices at the breakfast bar down in the restaurant of the hotel he lived in, Brass sat in what was now unofficially his chair, wrapped in a blanket and holding Rabbit while watching tv as he waited for Sin to make pancakes.

 

She made them into shapes with little cookie cutters, gave them little features made of strawberry jam and whipped cream and arranged them around Brass’s plate. They were all fresh and given to him as they were done, with children’s cutlery she’d "borrowed" from a neighbour down the hall and forgotten to give back so long ago they were hers now. She warned him to let them cool first before eating.

 

All in all a huge difference, but an interesting one. He was certainly more relaxed without the stares and muttered comments of strangers and worry that he’d embarrass Freddie with his lack of… ettikit? He didn’t even know what that was, and he’d usually left the place having not eaten as much as he’d wanted to. Especially before he was even properly awake, at that.

 

When there was a little bit of pancake batter left she made a couple regular pancakes for herself with sugar and orange marmalade, settling in the chair across from Brass to eat with him. Those she rolled up and ate with her hands, uncaring of stickiness and hygiene since she’d washed their hands at the kitchen sink before starting. 

 

Brass tilted his head at seeing that and picked at the corners of the remaining shapes with his fingers, debating with himself. Sin was doing it, so it was safe to say he could too and she wouldn’t be bothered. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to it, not to mention he'd eaten far worse during his period at the store. Sometimes he even found freshly thrown out stuff that didn’t make him gag, or fall through his fingers to the dirty floor, or get stuck in his joints and make his bones crawl.

 

But she’d given him cutlery, the small wide kind with thick rubber grips that fit perfectly in his hands and his mouth, so clearly she expected him to use them.

 

A few minutes in she noticed Brass wasn’t eating anymore. He was staring at his plate looking… lost? When she asked if he was ok he ducked his head and turned back to the tv, hands fidgeting behind the plate on his lap.

 

“Hey, come on,” she said gently, leaning in the direction of the tv close enough into his field of vision that he would see her. “You can tell me what’s up. You need something?”

 

He bit his lip and mumbled something she didn’t hear, so she asked him kindly to repeat that.

 

“... some… Juice?” he said only a touch louder.

 

“You want some juice? Heck, I _knew_ there was something missing.” Sin shook her head at herself. “Sure, I got some more a couple days ago, the kind Freddie said you liked.”

 

He raised his brows, blinking with wide eyes as she picked her plate up using the heels of her hands to set it on the table, and pushed herself up into standing. She paused, looking closely at him.

 

“It is grape juice that you like, right? Or is it not…?”

 

Brass just nodded shyly, wringing his hands together. He’d rather hoped for some kind of sauce, but he hadn’t gotten up the courage to ask Freddie for that yet either.

 

She headed to the kitchenette to wash her hands, then poured some grape juice out in the little cup that he’d started to drink from exclusively.

 

She was about to hand it to him, his hands raised expectantly, when there was an insistent knock on the door to which Sin looked up and immediately sighed. She gently handed him the cup and walked to the door with an expression like she was about to do something she really didn’t want to, even taking a deep breath before she put her hand to the handle.

 

She turned to look at him suddenly. “Brass, if this is who I think it is then I want you to know you did nothing wrong, so don’t feel guilty or take anything he says to heart, ok?”

 

Brass’s sockets went wide but he nodded, swallowing down the knot of mild tension that welled into existence at that. The taste of pancakes went stale and dry in his mouth. He didn’t think he could drink the juice now, and his throat closed up at the thought of it. 

 

Sin nodded back, then turned to the door and sighed again as the knock came again before cracking it open only as much as necessary.

 

“Forrester.” A smooth, high but clipped masculine sounding voice greeted her by what Brass assumed was her last name. He couldn’t see the owner from where he sat, so he had to assume with some relief that he couldn’t be seen either.

 

“Kevin.” Sin replied in a voice comparatively flat and rounded, eyes half lidded and brows low.

 

“I heard loud noises from your apartment last night and came to make sure my neighbour didn’t have some rabid animal in there killing her,” he drawled smoothly, “You seem… drab as usual though. No blood stains or scratches, I see. No terrified gawping. Nothing ...exciting? Certainly no strange men, or wild pets, I hope?” He actually sounded very hopeful.

 

“There’re so many things wrong with what you just said, holy shit.” Sin frowned, “No, unlike you I don’t invite strange people into my home to scratch me up an’ shit. You can go now.”

 

“I demand to know what that awful screeching was last night,” he huffed, losing his patience. Huh, it must have really bothered him. “If you have an animal in there…”

 

“I don’t,” Sin deflected.

 

A pause. “Well, what was it then?”

 

“None of your business, is it?”

 

“Oh come on!” he whined. “You’re telling me that the high pitched yelling and crying last night was you? You don’t even twitch during horror movies!”

 

“Because they’re not even good most of the time.” She made a face. “Not the ones you pick anyway.”

 

“Hey! I pick good ones!”

 

“Not from where I was sitting.”

 

“Oh, boo. You wouldn’t know good horror if it came up and strangled you, then cut you up and ate you piece by piece.”

 

“No thanks, not my thing.”

 

“Oh, I know,” Kevin’s voice turned smug and sultry. “You prefer-” Sin balked, throwing her hand up to stop him.

 

“OH-kaay, let’s not go there in front of my front door, huh?” She rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Uggh, why d’you wanna know, anyway? You gonna tell the old lady?” Brass blinked at that term, his curiosity growing.

 

“Well, pets really aren’t allowed,” Kevin said. His voice changed drastically, not quite slumped, but relaxed and Brass could hear the shrug in it somehow, imagining he’d stand leaning against the door with his arms crossed. “Unless they’re trained or for support, or... Something. Anything else is grounds for eviction. And you’re actually amusing sometimes, unlike some of the others here.”

 

“Well, I mean some of the others are good to talk to, or hot.”

 

“I can’t argue with you there. For example~...” he sing-songed and trailed off, and Brass assumed he pointed somewhere because Sin turned her head to look somewhere down the hall with a growing little smirk on her face.

 

“Ooooh… I hear you,” she purred, and Brass blinked and frowned. Her eyes were half-lidded as she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway. In doing so her hip knocked the door open a little more and Brass would have worried she’d forgotten about him before he got distracted by his first look at this Kevin.

 

He was shorter than Sin, not fat but not skinny, with probably a naturally thick waist under his pressed shirt and blazer. And he was… colourful.

 

Well, not in the sense that he wore many colours, Brass amended as he tilted his head, squinting. But what he did wear was bold and looked like it was meant to stand out, and he stood in such a way that Brass was sure he wanted to draw attention to it. His hair was the only wild thing about him, but it was combed into some sense of unruly neatness, its sharp silver white contrasting against his brown skin and the shimmering deep purple of his smart jacket.

 

The Yanyans had looked like that back at the centre, Brass recalled. Standoffish and peacocking all over the place, each one wearing clothing and jewellery they’d made just to compete against the others and have the best chance at catching the eye of some fashionable human. 

 

Still, Kevin cut an attractive figure, so Brass tried to hold the image of him in his mind long enough to draw in his sketchbook later. That was when the man turned to speak to Sin again and glanced inside. His eyes sharpened as they zeroed in on the bitty and Brass felt his non-stomach fall out under him. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to LeenaZenyo and PinkCatsy on tumblr for proofing.
> 
> 31/07/18: Minor Edits to clean things up a bit.


	6. Day 2: How Not To Greet A New Pal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brass meets one of Sin's more annoying neighbours, and Sin takes the opportunity to set out some Rules.

 

 

Brass froze where he was and willed himself to be invisible, hoping the guy was looking somewhere else. Kevin didn’t turn away though, wide eyes locked on him and fine silver brows raised practically to his hairline as he remembered why he’d come to see her in the first place. Sin started to speak to him unaware his attention had diverted, but caught his look and muttered an expletive under her breath as she moved inside to block his line of sight.

 

“I don’t have an animal, Kevin. Go back to whatever you were baking this time an’ leave me alone,” she grumbled, scowling at him. At the same time she subtly took half a step back so the door was between them, pushing it half closed. Kevin ignored her, or perhaps he hadn’t even heard, and craned his head around the door to continue staring at the skeleton. It broke his trance though, and he huffed.

 

“Oh come on, what’s that you have in there if it’s not an animal?” Kevin needled, finally glancing at an irate Sin. “I mean it doesn’t look like any animal I’ve ever seen…” He craned his head around hers to see better, only to be blocked by the door as she narrowed the space further.

 

Brass let out a breath, face burning and sockets watering up at the plain attention, but he didn’t want to look away from them. He had to - he needed to protect his place. This was His Place right now, and Sin was His Human for as long as he was here. His other Human left him with her because he trusted her so Brass had to protect her. What was he doing just hiding? He needed to get out there…!

 

“I told you it’s none of your goddamn business. Go away.”

 

“I know what I said before but I’m serious this time! Hellish screaming coming from my neighbour’s apartment that might be a murderer is high cause for concern and is very much my business!”

 

“No, it’s not, because this isn’t something that’s gonna hurt me, an’ I know what I’m doing!” she hissed, her clipped northern english accent coming through stronger than usual as she tried to get the words out quickly. Of course she didn’t _actually_ know what she was doing, but he didn’t need to know that.

 

“That’s what you say about a lot of things until you get your rich _“friend”_ to help you,” Kevin hissed back defensively. His words must have struck something in his mind though as he stopped to think. “Unless…”

 

“No. Unless nothing, go away and leave me alone,” Sin ground out between clenched teeth. She threw her weight behind the door as she made to slam it in his face without warning. Brass jumped with a yelp at the sudden move, alert for some clue of what would happen and what to do.

 

Kevin had predicted it though and slid his fancy oxford shoe firmly in front of the door first so it wouldn’t budge.

 

“I’ll-give-you-half-of-my-brownies-and-i-won’t-tell-mrs-finkle-if-you-tell-me!” he gasped as if that was enough to stop her, but she didn’t stop ramming anyway, if futilely.

 

“I don’t want your fricken death brownies!”

 

“That’s not what I saw when last time you ate nearly the whole pan!”

 

“I woul’n’t’ve eaten ‘em if I knew they were yours. An’ I gave ‘m back!”

 

“Vomiting doesn’t count!”

 

“Look, you said give ‘em back, you di'n’t say how,” she smirked.

 

“Oh-!” He huffed, face puffing up in affront as he was seemingly stuck for words, blurting out “Sh-shove off!” as he tried to regain his composure.

 

“No _you_ fuckin’ piss off!” Sin barked at the door, giving it a hard shove. She was aware this most likely looked bad and hoped nobody was in the hallway right then, even if it would end up being in her favour with Kevin trying to forcibly enter _her_ apartment.

 

“You’re just saying that because you’re hiding another stray brought by your stupid, flaky, shallow friend who doesn’t understand how bad you are at taking care of things because you’re just as emotionally stunted as he is-”

 

Brass stopped listening. All he could hear was a static buzz bleeding outward of his skull, a pressure building in his limbs and fists that he desperately longed to release. Preferably into Kevin’s face.

 

-;-;-

 

_-ss, it’s ok th-!_

 

“...calm dow-…. Brass-! …-alm down, he’s gone!”

 

He blinked up at her face inches from his, her heavy, panicked breath ruffling the hair in front of her eyes as she watched him. When he ceased to struggle, she inhaled deeply and let it out in relief like it came from the very core of her body, sitting back where she kneeled over his prone form splayed out on the floor. Somehow drained and unable to move as his SOUL calmed and the rush of magic slowed to a trickle, he stayed where he was and watched her.

 

Once she caught her breath she picked him up and settled him comfortably in her arms, before slumping against the wall beside the closed door. He didn’t resist. Her heartbeat had caught his attention, and when he leaned his skull closer hear could hear the pounding rush of blood inside her body. Kevin was nowhere to be seen, or heard.

 

Her body slowly released it’s tension, and in doing so made him aware of how much his body still held. His chest was heaving and tight, a coil of simmering protective anger still held there, and the joints of his hands were getting painfully stiff where his retractile claws had caught in her tank top. All along her arms and even on her chest and neck were gashes and red lines of varying depth, many of them bleeding a little.

 

It took him a long minute of staring at them, smelling the bitter copper in the air before he realised.

 

Shocked, he tried to scramble out of her arms and away from her in confusion and horror, his breath getting shallower until his head felt too light and dizzy to see straight. She held him tighter, shushing and rubbing his back as she pulled him close to her chest again. He pushed harder though, shoving away to escape and hide but she adamantly refused to let him go, having learned from before that it wouldn’t help.

 

Meanwhile he was stuck on a mental loop, the scratches and cuts he’d inflicted stark against her light brown skin and he hadn’t meant to do that, he hadn’t-- it wasn’t his fault! The guy had insulted Freddie and Sin and Brass hadn’t realised he was-- how did he even get over here? He’d just been in his chair and now his SOUL pounded at the thought of her throwing him out, he really didn’t mean to scratch her--

 

“Shh, don’t panic, it’s alright now. He’s gone and he won’t hurt you, I promise. He’s not actually that bad,” she murmured, trying to go for a calming tone even as her voice shook a little. It was too early and she hadn’t eaten, she didn’t have the energy for this. “He’s just a jerk sometimes, but not in a purposely mean way, honest…”

 

It took him half an hour to properly calm down and let her explain. She relocated to the chairs when her butt started going numb on the floor, only to notice the giant stain on Brass’s chair where he’d spilled his juice. She then became aware of the cool fabric clinging to her arms and soaking into her clothes where he’d curled up to her, making her shiver and grimace and curse Kevin out in her head for not coming by at a more reasonable hour. Like 6 pm. Or never.

 

-;-;-

 

She sat back in her chair glowering balefully at the cold pancakes. Brass was changed into clean clothes and had returned to clutching handfuls of her ripped shirt, his aching stomach making his head feel light and heavy at the same time. She’d attempted to get him to eat again, even resorting to drowning the pancakes in their weight’s worth of sugar and syrup, but he’d barely nibbled them.

 

What a sucky day so far. She’d wanted a good new start to help him settle, to show him that he was safe with her, that he didn’t have to always be on his toes. And Kevin ruined it.

 

Some time later she spoke again, voice soft to avoid startling him.

 

“I’m sorry about freaking you out again. And for holding you back like that, but uh, you might have seriously hurt him otherwise…” she paused.

 

“It feels like all I’m doing is making mistakes and apologising…” she lamented, stroking circles into his spine. It occurred to her that there ought to be bones jutting up from his back and that her hands should have caught on them by now, but Brass had started wriggling at that moment and she put the thought away for later.

 

Now he rubbed at his sockets, leaning his weight against her as the after-tremors that’d started soon after Kevin left abated.

 

She picked up her lukewarm cup of tea and sipped at it. As an afterthought she offered some to the bitty.

 

He blinked with heavy sockets and tried to reach for it but wasn’t really up to moving and whined instead, visibly wincing when that made his head twinge. She brought it closer to him instead, letting him control the flow.

 

“Y’know…” she mumbled, watching him. He tilted his chin up and she moved the cup to avoid spilling as his eyes skipped to her for a second. “You can tell me if there’s something you want. Or don’t want. I’d prefer that even. It would… it’d help us both out a lot.”

 

He blinked a few more times, more sleepy flutters of his sockets if anything. As if that had tired them, he let them close for a moment and turned his face into her chest, curling his arms up between them. He shook his head enough to make it look like he was trying to get comfortable but not quite like he disagreed.

 

“You… don’t want to talk?” she asked with a frown after a full minute. He said nothing.

 

She sighed. “Alright. Why don’t you take a nap, an’ I’ll explain a few things after, hm? We’ll get a little, y’know, compromise thing going sooner rather than later-” Thanks to that idiot, she finished in her mind. “You just rest up.”

 

She got the familiar, but no less discomfiting feeling that she was forgetting something, but he had drifted off already and probably hadn’t even heard her. She finished the last of her cold tea.

 

-;-;-

 

“There’s nothing in the contracts about bitties, you silly plonk, I’ve read the bloody thing back to front enough times to know,” Sin hissed with exasperation into the receiver as she wore a line into the living room carpet. Her tone was hard, frustration in trying to defend Brass and herself while also trying not to come off as too… _much_ pouring out of her in waves as her words tumbled over each other.

 

“So it doesn’t matter if you tell her, since not only is there nothing forbidding them, but she already knows because _I told her the first day.”_

 

There was a couple beats of silence while she listened to the reply on the phone.

 

“Ye’ damn _right_ you’re not comin’ back. Not ‘til you prove that you won’t freak him out again the second you step inside. You really upset him, and me, with your stupid comments about his dad… Yeah, that’s what I said. Read up on it, I’m not gonna hold your ffff--flippin’ hand for every little thing!”

 

 _She sounds angry,_ Rabbit mused from under Brass’s chin with the confidence of someone who knew it wasn’t directed at them. Brass sighed and sagged onto his pillow, huddling with the stuffed toy close to his chest under his thick blanket as they watched her through the door.

 

A short while after he’d been forced out, Kevin had banged on the door and woke Brass from his unplanned nap with a jolt, his eyes flitted about at the noise even as he burrowed closer. Sin had comforted and settled Brass down again wrapped up like a burrito in his bed, snacks and juice boxes within arms reach, and then left to deal with Kevin over the phone. She may have said something under her breath about possibly strangling him.

 

Brass shifted and rubbed at his sockets with a knuckled fist, his magic clenching uneasily. It was late now (mid afternoon). He was tired in the way that made him crave comfort and attention and someone to fuss over him, but the thought of asking Sin for those things, bringing the focus of her ire onto him, made him more cranky and restless.

 

 _Brass, you know she won’t get upset with you,_ Rabbit told him, soothingly stroking his face with it’s soft, satin paw. _Think about it._

 

“I guess…” he mumbled into the top of Rabbit’s head, leaning into the touches.

 

_You guess?_

 

The bitty lay passively for a minute, stroking the soft fur of the rabbit toy and gathering his words.

 

“I… I scratched her up pretty bad,” he said finally. He swallowed heavily through a pressure growing in his chest, and felt himself start to tremble again. “A-and… she looked mad and s-scared-”

 

 _And yet she held you,_ Rabbit interrupted. _Even changed your clothes and tucked you in with me. I understand your worry, but believe me when I tell you I think you have nothing to worry about._

 

Brass sighed and shrugged for lack of a reply, snuggling closer to the toy. He was still kind of scared, the tight nausea and shaking of fear coiled inside.

 

A click from the kitchenette snapped Brass out of his thoughts and he tentatively peered around for the source. Less than a minute later Sin stopped talking, and then there were muffled footsteps walking about before the tap of something hard being set on glass.

 

The door opened a smidge and Sin peered inside at him, watching him carefully. He watched her back, trying to read her expression.

 

“He’s not coming back,” she assured softly. “You wanna come out? I made hot chocolate.”

 

-;-;-

 

Since that first day she’d only used the smallest cup for him, no matter what he drank. It didn’t stain, luckily, but she always cleaned it first while washing up, and put it away carefully. Once, in the first few days before Freddie had left, she had poured his drink in a different cup and he’d- well he hadn’t quite pouted, but she couldn’t help but feel his disappointment.

 

She supposed it was either because of it being one she didn’t use at all and therefore basically ‘his’ for the time being, or that it was painted with a cute cartoon bunny pattern. He probably associated it with his bunny toy, or maybe with Freddie who gave it to him. Either way she didn’t make that mistake again. She wasn’t even sure why, she just put it down to her dislike of disappointing people and let the thought go.

 

Now she added cinnamon, powdered chocolate, and whipped cream to each cup, putting them and the can of whipped cream with some cookies on a tray and bringing it to the coffee table.

 

She put his cup down close to him on the table, then set the tray aside as she sat back with her own cup. The only sound for a few minutes was that of the wind outside and the distant traffic. Brass seemed to be considering the carpet, or the distance between him and the floor again.

 

“So,” Sin hummed eventually, watching him. He hadn’t immediately picked up the cup, but instead he went for a cookie and dunked it in the hot drink, leaning on the edge of the chair with his free hand clutching the stuffed arm. “He figured out what you are.”

 

Brass’s cookie crumbled wetly over his fingers as he took a bite and he looked up at her, worried both at Kevin’s knowledge of him, and the possible stain. Sin frowned as it dripped to the floor and cushions, before standing to get some kitchen towels to wipe it up and set a fresh one on his lap, putting the rest aside as she sat back down.

 

“I’ve made him and my landlady aware of the situation, and he won’t come in without _your_ express permission. Uhh, what else...” She hummed, drumming her fingers against her jaw. Brass blinked, watching. “I usually have a special set of rules for small humans visiting my apartment and they can be adjusted well enough for you. I’ll be following them as well, of course,” she said to head off any arguments about that first thing, not that he would have done.

 

“Quick overview of whatever I can remember. We keep all shared living spaces tidy. It hurts stepping on small toys and stationary and I’ve done that far too many times.

 

“You can help with cooking and baking and cleaning, and you’re always allowed to suggest something to eat. But overall, I’m the adult and I’m supposed to take care of you, not the other way around. No lying, respect the No, and respect personal space when needed. Mind your p’s and q’s. No interrupting when another person is speaking, especially during a phone call. No caffeine after seven pm. Breaking those is asking for a time out that takes as long as you deny them.

 

“Never apologise for nightmares. And don’t hesitate to ask for hugs.” She leaned on her elbows, giving him a serious but earnest look. “Do you agree with those?”

 

Brass blinked in a daze but nodded timidly as he tried to remember.

 

“If you ever have any suggestions you can bring them up any time, ok? I know it was long, there’s a written list so you don’t have to worry about trying to remember them all. And I want you to know that, unless I’m taking a phone call, you can talk to me any time at all. Even the middle of the night if you need to.”

 

“Fa-- th’nk you,” he said softly with a quick look at her before turning back to his drink.

 

“You’re welcome, dear,” she replied kindly, smiling.

 

He seemed more relaxed now she decided, pushing the table closer to him.

 

“Any questions?”

 

Brass paused in licking the liquid running down his fingers to glance at her. They stared at each other for a moment.

 

“No?” she muttered, rubbing her neck and clearing her throat. It felt a little raspy from the monologue. “Ok well, um. What do you want to do today? I was gonna visit a few friends in the building, then go do some minor grocery shopping. You wanna come with, or… maybe you wanna think about it?”

 

Brass thought for a moment, curling down around his cup as he ate another cookie with a somewhat less messy result.

 

She took a sip of her own cocoa, savouring it as her eyes were drawn back to her hands and arms. The scratches he’d left her with really weren’t deep or bad, at least not what they could have been with his claws, but they still stung with every other movement. She’d planned to get some numbing antiseptic cream or something during the grocery run later anyway and they would certainly serve as a reminder so it wasn’t altogether unfortunate - which reminded her of the medication they both needed to take soon…

 

What worried her most was how savage he’d looked when he rushed at them. Eye lights contracted to barely visible pinpricks and vicious looking sharp teeth glistening as he growled like nothing she’d ever heard before, he’d looked as far from the bitty currently eating her cookies and chasing the chocolate down his fingers.

 

When she moved to intercept Brass, at first assuming he was coming in for an embrace before the sheer speed quite literally hit her, she knocked Kevin out of his stupor and spurred him to flee out the door. Brass then went for the door in an attempt to chase the man down but Sin instinctively grabbed for him and pulled him down to the floor with her. It was all a bit of a blur, but she’d gone over it a few times in her head since to figure out why.

 

Unfortunately whatever she and Kevin spoke about had slipped from her mind in the scuffle, and disoriented as he was Brass didn’t seem to remember or fully realise what had happened either.

 

 _What made him charge like that?_ Sin thought to herself, frowning.

 

Brass made a quiet noise of confusion and surprise as his eye lights fixed on her. Oh. Had she said that out loud? She paused for a beat to keep herself from grimacing and upsetting him as she thought of what to do. Well, since it was out now she might as well go with it; better to make herself look confident and calm so he didn’t take it wrong. Right?

 

“Brass. What, uh,” she cleared her throat, suddenly awkward. He tensed at the pause. “What made you so angry earlier?”

 

Brass watched her closely, seeming to study her face and she made sure keep her brows from knitting in the middle like they were prone to when she was focused. He shifted in place and pulled his legs up to push him back into the chair, bringing the cup with him close to his chest.

 

“I’m not upset with you,” she assured him. “But I am… concerned at how upset you were. Clearly what Kevin said hurt you. Do you, um, wanna talk about it?” Sin asked, the words stilted and not as clear as she’d hoped.

 

Brass said nothing, looking down into his cup morosely and swirling the liquid around.

 

“Brass, look at me please.” He glanced up at her once after a long moment, though his movements were jerky. Good enough for now, she thought.

 

“I want you to tell me....” She stopped, realising she hadn’t thought it through then plunged through anyway. “Why did you try to attack him? What did he say that angered you?”

 

His eye lights fluttered in wide sockets and his head snapped up to her.

 

“I-I did?” he whispered. “I- I didn’t mean-” He whined, glancing about. Sin stood to take the cup from his hands where it wavered and he flinched back, making her stop in her tracks. The chocolate spilled a little and she mentally sighed as she sat on the edge of her seat, lamenting any of her furniture or his clothes staying clean for the next two weeks.

 

“I know you didn’t mean it dear, and nobody was hurt-”

 

His eyes darted to the scratches on her bare skin.

 

“Ok, but that was an accident and I know you didn’t do it deliberately,” she soothed.

 

“He- he was- he said mean things about Daddy and- and about you!” Brass whined. “I d-didn’t mean to get mad! I-it was him, his fault! Please don’t lock me up!”

 

“What?” Sin’s brows rose at that. “No- I’m not- I’m not gonna lock you up. Why did you think I was?” But Brass only moaned and squeezed his eyes closed, hunching inward on himself with the cup in front of his face, so she put that aside for later.

 

“I’m not going to lock you up,” she repeated firmly, “and I don’t blame you for getting mad. I get angry at him all the time; I mean he doesn’t seem to know when to keep his mouth shut. But I’m not going to lock you up for it. The most I’ll do to punish you is put you in the corner for timeout.”

 

“Time out?” He asked weakly, cracking one socket open while his voice trembled seemingly in fear of the words.

 

“Y’know, you sit in a corner for two minutes to calm down and think about how whatever you did was wrong or hurtful?” She raised her brows, slowly stepping closer and eyeing the cup in his grasp. “Then you can come out and I’ll give you a hug and we can do something nice. Depending on what you did, the punishment will be different, or there’ll be different lengths of time for you to sit there.”

 

“Do I- Are you gonna p-punish me f-for…” he swallowed, unable to finish the question.

 

Sin shook her head decisively despite not actually being sure. “You didn’t know, and I don’t think you were even really aware of what you were doing, to be honest. Not to say I’ll let it go next time, just that it’s not as bad as whatever you’re imagining.”

 

His shoulders fell in relief, though his expression remained cautious, and Sin carefully took the cup from him to set on the table, still within his reach. Then she realised she lost her train of thought again.

 

“So, uh. You wanna come with me to see my friends?”

 

-;-;-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to LeenaZenyo, and Pinkcatsy on tumblr, for betaing and proofing the chapter for me. 
> 
> Question: How do you guys feel about the way I write povs? Do you prefer Sin's, or Brass's, or how it is currently with them switching when there's nothing going on with one of them? Let me know, either in the comments, or on my tumblr!
> 
> 31/07/18: Minor edits.


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